Air Force C-17s bring tons of humanitarian aid for Venezuela

By: Fernando Vergara, Gisela Salomon and Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press 17 hours ago

CUCUTA, Colombia — The U.S. Air Force airlifted tons of aid to a Colombian town on the Venezuelan border Saturday as part of an effort to both help the Venezuelan people during their humanitarian and political crisis and undermine socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Three C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., and Joint Base Charleston, S.C., delivered humanitarian aid to Cucuta, Columbia. The cargo planes took off from Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida.

“United States Air Force humanitarian aid missions are the most meaningful missions that we fly,” Capt. Susan Jennie, a C-17 pilot with the 6th Airlift Squadron at McGuire, said in an Air Force news release. “The opportunity to fly these kinds of missions was my biggest motivation to train and fly on the C-17. To be able to help out and bring aid to those in need, when needed, is one of the most rewarding opportunities I’ve been presented in my life and career.”

That border city, swollen by a flood of migrants from Venezuela, is a collection point for aid that’s supposed to be distributed by supporters of Juan Guaido, the congressional leader who is recognized by the U.S. and many other nations as Venezuela’s legitimate president. He has called for the aid.

"This wasn't the first, and it won't be the last," said USAID Administrator Mark Green, standing on the tarmac in Cucuta at a ceremony to receive the aid. "More is on the way."

Commercial planes had been used for earlier shipments of aid, which is aimed at dramatizing the economic crisis — including hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine — gripping Venezuela. Critics say last year’s re-election was fraudulent, making Maduro’s second term illegal.

(Moar in Article)

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/02/17/air-force-c-17s-bring-tons-of-humanitarian-aid-for-venezuela/

Alaska governor offers use of National Guard troops along US-Mexico border

By: The Associated Press 13 hours ago

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska is about 3,000 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, but the state’s new Republican governor is offering President Donald Trump the use of the Alaska National Guard to patrol it, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy says in a video message that the soldiers would “stand ready to support the national security crisis on the U.S. southern border.”

"While the southern border may seem far away and distant, this crisis is real and a potential threat to every American, including Alaskans," he said in the message released Friday.

Dunleavy press secretary Matt Shuckerow tells that Daily News that no movement of the Alaska National Guard is planned. He says that if the soldiers were sent there, the federal government would pay most of the cost.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/02/17/alaska-governor-offers-use-of-national-guard-troops-along-us-mexico-border/

Former Army Secretary John Marsh laid to rest in Virginia

By: The Associated Press 15 hours ago

NEW MARKET, Va. — Former Secretary of the Army John Marsh Jr. was laid to rest Friday at a Civil War battlefield in Virginia where he developed a love for history and the military.

Marsh, who also served four terms as Virginia's 7th District congressman, died Feb. 4 at Blue Ridge Christian Home in Raphine. He was 92.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was among the mourners who gathered Friday for Marsh’s funeral at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War and burial at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, The Northern Virginia Daily reported.

Cheney said some of Marsh’s admirable qualities were a love for the Army, in-depth knowledge of history and the ability to rise above partisanship. He said Marsh was the epitome of a patriotic American, loyal soldier and successful statesman.

After leaving Congress in 1971, Marsh served as an assistant secretary of defense and national security assistant to Vice President Gerald Ford, whom he later served as presidential counselor. He served as Army secretary from 1981 to 1989.

Col. Keith Gibson said Marsh visited the New Market battlefield as a child and was captivated by its history.

"For that young boy, the battle was more than a booming cannon and clashing sabers," Gibson said. "For Jack Marsh, the battle was a demonstration of the most vital elements of character and human conduct, public service, duty, integrity, selflessness," Chaplain Robert Phillips said that Marsh "was ready to go" during his last days and showed no fear, angst or "uncertainty of the unknown."

“He had accomplished all of the things he wanted to accomplish, he had made his impact, he had peace with his God, and he was ready to go,” he said.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/02/17/former-army-secretary-john-marsh-laid-to-rest-in-virginia/

Navy welcomes newest warship

By: The Associated Press 14 hours ago

TULSA, Okla. — A vessel that bears the name of Oklahoma’s second-largest city has been commissioned as the newest warship in the U.S. Navy’s fleet.

The Tulsa was commissioned on Saturday at a pier in San Francisco.

The vessel is an Independence-class littoral combat ship. It’s the eighth ship of its kind in the Navy’s fleet.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma says the vessel is one of the most technologically advanced in the world.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Lankford said the massive vessel does not have a traditional rudder or propeller and operates more like a catamaran and a jet ski with a high draft, sitting just 14 feet (4 meters) in the water.

The warship features electronic components made by a Tulsa firm, U.S. Pioneer.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/17/navy-welcomes-newest-warship/

Fifth Fleet’s Malloy: ‘still things going into Yemen that I need to stop’

By: Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press 17 hours ago

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates’ war in Yemen alongside Saudi Arabia bled into the start of a biennial Abu Dhabi arms fair Sunday, which saw the Emirates sign $1.3 billion in weapons deals.

One manufacturer displayed a model of a machine gun on sale that's now in the hands of Emirati-backed militiamen in Yemen, while the armored personnel carriers and tanks used in the war in the Arab world's poorest country also could be seen at the show.

Even the military show that began the fair included troops raiding a militant hideout equipped with both mobile and land-based ballistic missiles, just like those in the possession of Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

While Emirati officials avoided discussing Yemen, allied American officials linked arms smuggling there to what they described as the wider malign activities of Iran across the greater Middle East.

“My assumption is there are still things going into Yemen that I need to stop. … There is nothing good happening by arms being illegally shipped into Yemen,” said Vice Adm. James Malloy, the head of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet command that oversees the region. “It is destabilizing. It delays peace there. It exacerbates the disastrous humanitarian crisis that we’re facing in Yemen and delays humanitarian efforts coming in.”

Discussing the Houthis, Malloy added: "We see the world trying to end this thing and one group doing nothing to end it — probably the opposite."

The UAE entered Yemen’s war in March 2015 alongside Saudi Arabia to back Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which the Houthis had pushed out of the capital, Sanaa. The Emirates largely has handled ground operations in the conflict while the Saudis have bombed from the air.

(Moar in Article)

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/17/fifth-fleets-malloy-still-things-going-into-yemen-that-i-need-to-stop/

Assad vows to ‘liberate every inch of Syria’ from foreign troops

By: Albert Aji, The Associated Press 14 hours ago

DAMASCUS, Syria — Only the Syrian state can protect groups in northern Syria and the army will “liberate every inch of Syria” from foreign troops, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday.

He did not specifically mention the planned withdrawal of 2,000 American troops from northern Syria, but in a televised speech in Damascus he said no one should bet on protection from the Americans.

He appeared to be referring to U.S.-allied Kurdish groups in the north who fear a Turkish assault once American troops withdraw from northeastern Syria. The U.S. has partnered with local Kurdish militias in the fight against the Islamic State group. The extremists are on the verge of territorial defeat in Syria and President Donald Trump has said he wants U.S. troops to leave Syria in the coming months.

Trump's announcement has raised fears that Turkey may soon be able to launch an offensive on the Kurdish fighters. Turkey considers the north Syria-based Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, a terrorist group linked to an insurgency within its own borders.

Assad suggested the U.S. had sold out its Kurdish partners, and said that the Syrian army will return to the area after the American troop pullout.

"To those groups who are betting on the Americans, we say the Americans will not protect you… the Americans will put you in their pockets to be used as bargaining tools," he said.

“Every inch of Syria will be liberated, and any intruder is an enemy,” Assad added.

(Moar in Article @ Military Times)

https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/02/17/assad-vows-to-liberate-every-inch-of-syria-from-foreign-troops/

>>5240291

They can add Twitter, Google, YouTube and numerous others to that list too. It's the …. Look over here←- Don't look over there-→ and diversion tactic non stop all day long. If one important issue is raised, they create another to divert the public's attention. Funny how fast people seem to forget the really important issues, like 9 month abortion, PP selling baby parts, rampant corruption in VA, ect

Vatican Pedo Conference LIVE

>>5240378

Same, enjoy your day Patriot, this ladyvet is off to slay the day too. WWG1WGA