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On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that Hamas doesn’t care about the Palestinian people and if they did, “they’d lay down their arms, they’d step aside, they’d release those hostages,” but they’ve refused hostage release offers. Kirby also stated that there have been too many civilians killed in Gaza and the number of civilian casualties “needs to be zero.”

On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby stated that Hamas does hide in hospitals and residential areas and Israel has the right to go after Hamas wherever they hide, but Israel also has “a special burden to be mindful of civilian infrastructure, particularly, hospitals and residential complexes like that, where we don’t want to see them become scenes of battle. So, nobody wants to see fighting in a hospital. So, it does add an extra burden on the Israelis to be more careful, more deliberate.” Co-host Brianna Keilar asked,...

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres harshly condemned the Israeli government Sunday for its conduct in the Israel-Hamas war, as the civilian death toll in Gaza surpasses 25,000. “Israel’s military operations have spread massive destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general,” Guterres said at a U.N. summit Sunday. He reiterated calls for an “immediate humanitarian cease-fire to relieve the suffering in Gaza, allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in need, and facilitate the release of hostages, which should be immediate and unconditional.”

Russia said on Saturday it would punish Ukraine for using a sea drone to attack a civilian tanker near the Kerch Strait in what it said was a "terrorist act" that threatened the lives of the crew and risked "a large-scale environmental disaster." Both sides said on Saturday that a Ukrainian sea drone full of explosives had struck a Russian fuel tanker overnight near a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea, the second such attack in 24 hours. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would retaliate.

The United States is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, a decision that could be announced as soon as this week, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday...Two of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the announcement could come as early as Thursday but was awaiting formal approval from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden.

AOC wants you! Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats backing the Green New Deal are seeking to create a 1.5 million-strong group of Americans to join a “Civilian Climate Corps” to work on federal projects to battle climate change, Fox News reported on Wednesday. The New York Democrat and Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts are among the progressive lawmakers who introduced the bill to establish the civilian force that will be tasked with “responding to climate change and transition to a clean economy.”

The NYPD will begin allowing civilian members to work from home as the number of COVID-19 cases in the city rises, The Post has learned. The roughly 19,000 non-uniformed workers in the NYPD below the level of director will be given the option to telework starting Friday as long as they’ve been “identified as able to successfully complete required job functions from home,” according to the administrative bulletin obtained by The Post. Uniformed officers and high-ranking officials are not authorized to work from home, the bulletin reads.

The job requires experience "in disarmament affairs, political analysis or in national military or paramilitary service" The United Nations is now accepting job applications in New York City, New York for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration officers to “contribute to security and stability in post-conflict environments.” The job listing was posted to the U.N. careers homepage on Dec. 26, and notes that “female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position” because “the United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff.” UN DDR forces operate under the intergovernmental organization’s Department of Peace Operations to “assist”...

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs Thursday, December 12, 2019 Former Army Employee Charged with Bribery, Kickbacks in Connection with Scheme to Steer Contracts A former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his role in a scheme to steer Army contracts for work to be performed at Camp Arifjan, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent Jozette Gillespie, Acting Director, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's (CID) Major Procurement Fraud Unit and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig...

Survivors Describe Attacks on Tents, Home, Farm (Beirut) – Turkish Armed Forces appear to have failed to take necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties in three attacks in northwest Syria in late January 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks killed 26 civilians, including 17 children.On January 20, Turkey opened a military offensive in the Afrin district. The area, which is under the control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) – a Syrian Kurdish political party – has a civilian population of approximately 323,000, including 125,000 people displaced from elsewhere, according to the United Nations. “It appears that vulnerable...

Watching the military lately is like watching an Evil Knievel 20 bus jump gone wrong; a Wide World of Sports skier careen into a throng of spectators; an out of control freight train laden with deadly chemicals, ready to derail that no one seems to have the ability to stop. The merde is indeed hitting the ventilateur in the bowels of the Pentagon and across the world at US military bases and on US ships of war. It’s safe to say that in the US military, the thrill of victory is long gone and the agony of defeat is here...

SOUTHWEST ASIA – A convoy of vehicles is staged to depart Raqqah Oct. 14 under an arrangement brokered by the Raqqah Civil Council and local Arab tribal elders Oct. 12. The arrangement is designed to minimize civilian casualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terrorists as people trapped in the city continue to flee the impending fall of Daesh’s so-called capital. People departing Raqqah under the arrangement are subject to search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces. The Coalition was not involved in the discussions that led to the arrangement, but believes it will save innocent lives and allow Syrian Democratic...

At least 100 thousand civilians have been transferred from Raqqa city center and surroundings to safe zones. There is an escape among all the dust. The people advance in groups. Vehicles are filled up up to 3 times their height. People are everywhere, walking. Dust clouds make it hard to see far. The town and villages they leave behind aren’t visible, there is a vague sight behind them. In the muggy weather and hot wind, women in black niqabs can be seen. A child carries a baby. Everybody is exhausted. There is the mark of exhaustion on children’s faces, their...

Gangs affiliated with the Turkish army have attacked the village of Nemanê in Shehba region and killed a Kurdish civilian after torturing him in front of his family and villagers. Gangs affiliated with the invading Turkish army have attacked the Kurdish village of Nemanê 14 km north of al-Bab this morning. Gangs also confiscated the properties of locals during their aggression. A Kurdish civilian by the name of Mahmûd Ehmed Îsmaîl was murdered by the gangs when he refused to give his house to them. According to local sources, the gangs tortured Îsmaîl in front of his family and the...

Rep. Tammy Duckworth worries her congressional colleagues don’t fully appreciate the importance of a civilian-run military. As a combat-wounded Iraq War veteran and incoming Illinois senator, she finds that troubling. “I believe so strongly that the military is subservient to civilian leaders,” she said Wednesday. “I went to fight in a war I didn’t believe​ was one we should be engaged in, but the president and Congress believed it was the right thing to do. So I’m proud of that. I would go back. “Every part of my being as a former military officer says what (Congress is) doing now...

train personnel, commensurate with their responsibilities, on compliance with legal obligations and policy guidance that address the protection of civilians and on implementation of best practices that reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties, including through exercises, pre-deployment training, and simulations of complex operational environments that include civilians;

Matt Lee questions Mark Toner on the parallels between the Kunduz bombing and the Israeli shelling of a UNRWA school.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – A reserve sheriff's deputy is facing aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges after police say he opened fire on a truck driver he thought had cut him off. After nearly 15 years behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler, Frank Collins III thought he had seen it all. He was wrong. "Never seen nothing like this," the 56-year-old said. "It's just too far-fetched." But what the Fort Worth man experienced late Sunday night actually happened, according to San Marcos police. Collins was driving along an Interstate 35 frontage road outside of Austin when he says he...

This tape was played on Sky Australia last night. I was going to post it this morning, but I couldn't find a way to embed the video. Now it's been uploaded to YouTube. The Clinton tape was made on September 10, 2001.

Four days into Operation Protective Edge, over 400 rockets have been fired at Israel, and several Israelis were injured during Friday, even as Iron Dome intercepted most rockets heading into residential areas. The Israeli Air Force has carried out over 1,000 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip; Palestinian reports say at least 100 Palestinians have been killed. Prime Minister Netanyahu says all Gaza casualties are the fault and responsibility of Hamas, which uses Gazans as human shields while Israel does its best to avoid hitting civilians. Netanyahu also says the operation will continue until longterm calm is guaranteed for Israel’s citizens....