Matt Gaetz resolution to pull US troops from Syria fails to clear House

Ryan King

March 08, 06:08 PM March 08, 06:08 PM

A resolution championed by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) calling for the United States to withdraw its troops from Syria failed to clear the House.

The measure was shot down on Wednesday in a 103-321 vote. Forty-seven Republicans and 56 Democrats voted in favor of Gaetz's War Powers Resolution Act, which would have directed President Joe Biden to bring the roughly 900 U.S. troops in Syria home within 180 days unless Congress authorized an extended deployment.

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Gaetz had filed the resolution after a Feb. 17 press release from U.S. Central Command stated that four American service members were wounded in a raid in northeastern Syria to take out a senior ISIS leader.

“If Joe Biden wants to keep us in Syria’s war, then he must explain to the American people why, what the goal is, and what winning looks like. Until then, every member of the House of Representatives will vote on the record on whether they support continuing war in Syria or not," Gaetz said in a statement ahead of the vote.

Due to the fact that war powers resolutions are privileged, Gaetz could force a vote on the measure within 18 days of him unveiling it. Gaetz is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

"America First means actually putting the people of our country first — not the interests of the Military Industrial Complex," he said.

The House Progressive Caucus encouraged its 100-plus members to back Gaetz's bill. Last year, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) unveiled a similar proposal that attracted 155 votes in favor, including 25 Republicans. Gaetz was one of them.

Robert Ford, the former ambassador to Syria under the Obama administration, also urged members of Congress to support Gaetz's resolution.

"After more than eight years of military operations in Syria there is no definition of what the ‘enduring’ defeat of ISIS would look like,” he wrote in a letter to Congress obtained by the Intercept. “We owe our soldiers serving there in harm’s way a serious debate about whether their mission is, in fact, achievable.”

On Saturday, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a surprise trip to Syria in a Kurdish-controlled controlled region to examine United States operations. He underscored the importance of having a military engagement in the region to curtail terrorist threats.

“Unless you support and devote the correct amount of resources to it, things will get worse,” he told reporters, the New York Times reported. “If you completely ignore and turn your back, then you’re setting the conditions for a resurgence.”

Austin makes unannounced visit to Iraq as 20-year anniversary of invasion approaches

Mike Brest

March 07, 06:57 AM March 07, 06:57 AM

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Iraq, where he reaffirmed the U.S.'s long-term commitment in the region.

Austin's trip makes him the highest-ranking Cabinet official to visit the country since the start of the Biden administration. He met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and is expected to meet other senior officials while he is in the country.

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The secretary said in a statement he's in Iraq to “reaffirm the US-Iraq strategic partnership as we move toward a more secure, stable and sovereign Iraq," according to the press pool.

Austin's visit comes weeks ahead of the 20-year anniversary of the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq in March 2003, which ultimately resulted in both the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the deaths of 185,000 and 208,000 Iraqi civilians, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

The defense secretary, who was the last commanding general of U.S. forces there after the invasion, is in the middle of a trip that includes stops in Jordan, Egypt and Israel.

His trip is designed to reaffirm to U.S. allies in the Middle East that the U.S. "remains committed to supporting their defense and increasing and strengthening the strategic partnerships with each of these countries," a senior Pentagon official told reporters on Friday, ahead of his departure.

The topic of Iran's ongoing maligned behavior is also a top issue for Austin to discuss with regional partners.

“He will obviously be speaking about the unprovoked war of choice by Russia and Ukraine,” the official added. “He will share his views about the imperative of increasing support to Ukraine now. He will also talk about the strategic implications of increasing Russian-Iranian military cooperation, which right now is killing Ukrainians but, eventually, will come back with significant and negative security consequences for the Middle East.”

NGOs suspend work in Afghanistan after Taliban regime bars female employees

Samantha-Jo Roth

December 25, 04:15 PM December 25, 04:23 PM

Major international aid groups suspended operations in Afghanistan on Sunday after the Taliban banned women from working at nongovernmental organizations until further notice, prompting worldwide condemnation.

The Taliban’s Economy Ministry announced Saturday that women could no longer work for NGOs as a result of complaints that some women had not adhered to the Taliban’s interpretation of the Islamic dress code for women, which includes wearing the hijab correctly. Earlier this year, the Taliban ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe coverings in public.

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Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE International suspended their operations in the country after the decision was made Saturday. The four NGOs were providing education, healthcare, nutrition services, and child protection amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

“We cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without our female staff,” read a joint statement from Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE International.

Separately, the IRC said it was suspending services in Afghanistan for similar reasons. Nearly half of the committee’s employees are women.

“Our ability to deliver services rely on female staff at all levels of our organization. If we are not allowed to employ women, we are not able to deliver to those in need,” the IRC said in a statement Sunday, according to Axios.

Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Mission to Afghanistan Karen Decker questioned on Twitter how the Taliban planned to prevent hunger among women and children after the ban, pointing out that the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian aid in the country.

A spokesman for the Taliban administration, Zabihullah Mujahid, attempted to defend the move, saying all organizations in Afghanistan are required to follow the rules set by the country.

“We do not allow anyone to talk rubbish or make threats regarding the decisions of our leaders under the title of humanitarian aid,” Mujahid said on Twitter.

Earlier this month, the U.N. humanitarian office warned that a record 28.3 million people will need humanitarian and other assistance next year.

Taliban bars women from working in human rights organizations in crackdown

Asher Notheis

December 24, 04:50 PM December 24, 05:03 PM

The Taliban have ordered all nongovernmental organizations to stop all female volunteers from coming to work, marking another backstep in the group's 2021 pledge to uphold women's rights.

The order was given by the Ministry of Economy in a letter to all local and international NGOs. The order claims that the organizations have failed to adhere to Islamic dress rules and other laws of the Islamic Emirate as the reason for the move, according to CNN.

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“Lately there have been serious complaints regarding not observing the Islamic hijab and other Islamic Emirate’s laws and regulations,” according to the letter, which went on to read that “guidance is given to suspend work of all female employees of National and international non-governmental organizations.”

Any NGO that fails to abide by this new rule will have its license revoked, the ministry warned.

The announcement of the new rule came in the same week that the Taliban government announced a ban against women from attending private or public universities in Afghanistan. Ziaullah Hashmi, the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, shared a letter on Tuesday ordering all private and public universities to enact the ban as soon as possible, according to NPR.

The Taliban managed to topple the U.S.-backed government of Afghanistan in August 2021 and had initially said it would uphold women's rights in the country. In the 16 months since then, however, the group's initial promise has rung hollow.

In May, the Taliban ordered that all women must be covered from head to toe when in public and that any women who fail to obey this order could have their father or closest male relative imprisoned or fired from their government positions.

Trump stands by hosting Saudi-funded LIV Golf events

Jack Birle

October 30, 04:36 PM October 30, 04:36 PM

Former President Donald Trump is not backing down from hosting events for the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour at his golf courses.

Trump, in brief remarks to the New York Times while he was at his Miami area golf course, dismissed criticisms of LIV Golf and instead criticized the PGA Tour.

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“We have human rights issues in this country, too,” Trump said, deflecting criticisms of the Saudi government.

He also stated that the PGA Tour "has been destroyed by the PGA" and it "should have embraced instead of fighting" with LIV Golf. He claimed the Saudi-backed golf tour has "unlimited" funds.

The former president has received criticism for hosting the events, with opponents of LIV Golf noting its funding comes from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Saudi Arabia has a checkered history with human rights, with the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi being the most public recent example.

Trump and LIV Golf have also received criticisms for the potential links Saudi Arabia had to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, particularly by the families of the victims.

The golf tour is seen widely as "sport-washing," or an effort to fix the country's public image through sporting events.

Saudi Arabia and Gulf states demand from customers choose articles be pulled from Netflix

Jack Birle

September 06, 10:32 PM September 06, 10:32 PM

The Gulf Cooperation Council's digital media committee has known as on Netflix to remove content from its platform that it deems inappropriate.

The committee's demands are because of to content material that "violates Islamic and societal values and principles," according to a statement attained by Arab News.

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"In light of the current observation that the platform was broadcasting visual substance and content material which violates content material controls in GCC countries,” the assertion states. “[The content] violates Islamic and societal values and rules. As such, the platform was contacted to eliminate this information, which includes material directed at small children, and to be certain adherence to the regulations.”

The statement also suggests that "required authorized measures will be taken" if Netflix does not tackle the articles the committee finds objectionable.

The Gulf Cooperation Council is composed of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Movie and tv censorship in the region has come to be a dilemma for a number of streaming expert services. Disney+ announced very last thirty day period it would not stream the film Lightyear, which features a exact-intercourse kiss, and the series Baymax, which also capabilities an LGBT character, in numerous Center Eastern nations.