#Iraqi war

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Leo Shane III at Military Times:

A group of 50 Republican veterans serving in Congress on Wednesday attacked Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz for “egregious misrepresentations” regarding his time in the National Guard and for what they see as a decision to abandon his troops ahead of a deployment to Iraq. But Walz supporters countered that the GOP lawmakers are mischaracterizing both the Minnesota governor’s 24 years of honorable service and their own time in the ranks. In a letter distributed by former President Donald Trump’s election campaign, the 50 lawmakers wrote to Walz that “there is no way you can be trusted to serve as vice president” given misstatements he has made regarding his military career. Among the complaints: that Walz uses the title “retired Command Sergeant Major” in public, that he claimed to carry weapons “in war” during his time in the military and that he retired from the Guard five months before his unit’s deployment to Iraq.

“The honor of wearing the uniform is earned through dedication, bravery and an unwavering sense of duty,” the lawmakers wrote. “You have displayed none of these characteristics as you have lied your way through a political career launched on the foundation of a title you did not earn and combat deployments you did not take part in.” Walz deployed to Europe with the Minnesota National Guard in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003, but never set foot in a combat zone. He made the weapons comment during a 2018 campaign rally, a remark that his campaign has publicly acknowledged as a mistake. Walz was promoted to command sergeant major in the final months of his military career but had his rank reverted to master sergeant upon retirement because he did not complete required coursework to retain the rank.

[...] Walz’s retirement from the service has been a point of contention between the presidential campaigns for the last month. Walz has said he finalized his retirement in May 2005, three months after announcing his intention to run for Congress. His unit officially received deployment notification in July 2005, and left for Iraq three months later. Walz has publicly said he did not retire to avoid deployment and is proud of his more than two decades of service with the National Guard. Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance — a Marine Corps veteran who served as a public affairs officer in Iraq — has attacked Walz for the timing of his retirement, saying he abandoned his troops as they headed off to war.

50 Republican members of both houses of Congress signed a letter in support of pushing phony “stolen valor” attacks against Tim Walz.

This reeks of hypocrisy by defending and supporting a draft dodger while attacking a man who served our nation.

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friday!

Stan Honda is a notable New York-based Asian American photojournalist who has worked for several publications, especially Agence France-Presse. In 2011, he collaborated with Minnesota printmaker and book artist Fred Hagstrom to produce this artists book, When I First Arrived in Baghdad, from Hagstrom’s Strong Silent Type Press in a limited edition of 35 copies signed by the artist/printer. Hagstrom silkscreened Honda’s images and reflections from his assignments in Iraq, and bound them between printed metal covers using a wire-edge binding. The font is Futura. Fred Hagstrom writes:

I first contacted Stan Honda . . . in the days after September 11th. He took some of the most moving photographs of that day, including some of business people shrouded in dust and trying to get home after the collapse of the towers. These have become some of the most iconic images of that day. I was struck by the human qualities in his photos and invited him to speak at my school. We stayed in touch, and I have seen that same quality in much of his later work, including his photos from the gulf after Katrina, and from two trips to Iraq. He seems to always have a sense for bringing out the human part of these stories. For this book, I asked him to give me a selection of his Iraq photos and to respond to a brief sort of interview for me to generate the text. I then printed the photos in silk-screen, pairing them with his words. Together they do the best of journalism: a human perspective on a complicated moment in history.

View other posts of books by Fred Hagstrom.

View more Fine Press Friday posts.

[soracities]

Dunya Mikhail, from Diary of a wave outside the sea (trans. Elizabeth Winslow and Dunya Mikhail) [ID'd]

[nando161mando]

🚨🇾🇪 BREAKING: The Yemeni Armed Forces announce, in cooperation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the targeting of a vital target at the Port of Asdod (north of #Gaza), as well as the targeting of an important target in the Port of Haifa.

Additionally, the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a qualitative operation targeting the ship "TUTOR" in the Red Sea, due to its parent company's violation of the ban on the ports of occupied Palestine.

[secular-jew]

Who's the aggressor again?

[nocternalrandomness]

Strike Eagle over Afghanistan - 2008

[feral-ballad]

I am like the pomegranate tree, but all my branches have been cut, broken, and buried with the dead. My heart has become a shriveled pomegranate beating with death and falling every second into a bottomless pit. But no one knows. No one. The pomegranate alone knows.

Sinan Antoon, from The Corpse Washer

[workersolidarity]

🇮🇶⚔️ 🇺🇲 🚨

GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ MOVES TO END U.S. OCCUPATION PRESENCE

The Iraqi government will move to end the presence of the U.S.-led coalition occupation in Iraq, according to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani.

Al-Sudani made the comments at a joint press conference with the visiting Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez on Thursday, Dec. 28th.

Al-Sudani said the topic was broached during his meeting with Sanchez, during which they discussed the details of the presence of the international coalition in Iraq.

"We appreciate the role of the coalition in supporting Iraq's efforts to confront the Islamic State militants," Al-Sudani said.

"The Iraqi government is in the process of rearranging the relationship with the international coalition in light of the presence of capable Iraqi forces," said the Iraqi prime minister, stressing that "the Iraqi government is moving toward ending the presence of the international coalition forces, which include security advisers who support the security forces in the areas of training, advice, and intelligence cooperation."

The two leaders discussed in depth the difficult situation in the Middle East, including the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Al-Sudani said he appreciated Spain's role and its "courageous stance in condemning these attacks."

Sanchez, for his own part, expressed his country's desire to develop relations with Iraq, in particular the fields of transportation, education, climate change, and defense.

The Spanish Prime Minister also met with the Iraqi President, Abdul Latif Rashid, to discuss ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, and the need to end the genocide in Gaza.

Spain is part of the U.S.-led international coalition tasked with training and advising Iraq's Security Forces in its fight against the radical islamic group, ISIS.

#source

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[usafphantom2]

Spooky and the Ghost Rider, how cool is this! AC-47 spooky,puff the magic dragon 🐉, AC-130U spectre

@ToddBollinger via X

[captain-price-unofficially]

Kuwaiti armed forces fighting the Iraqis during the 1990 invasion. 2 August 1990

[stuckinapril]

My mom and grandma telling me stories about having to deal w American soldiers in Iraq & how they were scared for my uncles (Iraqi men were at high risk of being imprisoned or killed) & how the US literally sliced Baghdad into pieces and Iraqis had to tiptoe around them every day is actually insane. I’m literally in awe listening to these like the trauma goes so deep

[cid5]

صورة لآخر جندي عراقي التقطت صباح يوم (2003/4/9) قبل سقوط بغداد بحوالي نصف ساعة.

[thiccanglosaxon]

Friend from uni and yes I’m friends with a former refugee

[soracities]

Dunya Mikhail, from Diary of a wave outside the sea (trans. Elizabeth Winslow and Dunya Mikhail) [ID'd]

[nando161mando]

Yemen, Iraqi resistance carry out joint operations against Israel

🔹Yemeni armed forces and Islamic Resistance forces in Iraq have launched new joint operations against the Israeli regime over its genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza.

[nocternalrandomness]

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