5 July 2014

This Was Your Week at War

Islamists attack Iran, air war over Iraq & Eritrean slavery
 
On June 19, suspected militant from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attacked an Iranian border post, killing at least two guards. Jassem Al Salami broke the news after Tehran tried to suppress it.

Today ISIS is fighting in three countries—Syria, Iraq and Iran—and no fewer than four countries are fighting back with warplanes and helicopters, Al Salami reported.

Iraq’s air arms are in the thick of the fighting. Baghdad is running out of Hind gunship helicopters, as ISIS keeps shooting them down, Robert Beckhusen noted.

Iran and Syria have both launched bombing raids on ISIS forces inside Iraq. And the U.S. Air Force and Navy are flying armed surveillance flights to keep tabs on the Islamists’ advance.

In northern Iraq, the Kurds are mobilizing for war with ISIS—while also opening up their homes to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the Islamists’ brutality and the incessant air raids, as Kevin Knodell and photographer Matt Cetti-Roberts documented.
In Eritrea, thousands of people every year flee the government’s oppressive conscription practices … which are tantamount to slavery, according toPeter Dörrie. Peter also highlighted a deepening controversy in Germany over Berlin’s confused—and self-defeating—support of the troubled Malian army.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed its version of the military’s funding law for 2015. It’s a wasteful mess, according to Winslow Wheeler. Meanwhile, Steve Weintz described how the Navy is struggling to build a basic landing craft—the same kind of craft it built by the thousands during World War II.

The world’s biggest naval war game is getting underway near Hawaii, Kyle Mizokami reported. China is attending for the first time, with a flotilla of four warships. RIMPAC is supposed to be a trust-building exercise, but with Beijing in the mix, there’s opportunity for spying, too.

David Axe’s new book Shadow Wars is out. Sign up for a daily War is Boring email update here. Subscribe to WIB’s RSS feed here and follow the main pagehere.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/this-was-your-week-at-war-6c2342735d7a


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