President Donald Trump has accused Russia, Iran and the Syrian government of causing a "humanitarian disgrace" in Syria, and said that the US military only remains in that war-torn country "for one reason: to get ISIS and get rid of ISIS and to go home." But let’s look at the facts. [...]

The Defense and Security Council of Montenegro has sent at least 40 members of its Armed Forces of Montenegro to Kosovo and Afghanistan as part of NATO ‘peacekeeping’ missions, participating with the possibility of rotation. The Montenegrin Army first sent a contingent to Afghanistan in March 2010, with the country becoming the 44th non-NATO state to contribute to the International Security As [...]

The Serbian breakaway of Kosovo is in the midst of two days of celebrations to mark the tenth anniversary of its declaration of independence. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Marko Gasic, a London-based international affairs commentator and Balkans expert, explained why he felt there was really very little to celebrate. [...]

Indonesia finalizes a billion-dollar deal pertaining to the purchase of 11 Sukhoi Su-35 jets from Russia. According to Indonesian Defense Ministry spokesman Totok Sugiharto on Saturday, the contract, worth a total of $1.14 billion, was finalized by representatives from both countries in Jakarta. [...]

Americans have a remarkable tolerance for child slaughter, especially the mass murders of the children of others. This emotional indifference manifested itself vividly after the disclosure of the My Lai Massacre, when dozens of Vietnamese infants and children were killed by the men of Charlie Company, their tiny corpses stacked in ditches. After the trial of Lt. William Calley, more than 70 percen [...]

Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya has reached levels of genocide claims, but no serious action from the US has been forthcoming. In Myanmar today, the thugs have won. Any moral leadership we thought Aung San Suu Kyi possessed has been badly damaged. Her former supporters have made a vocal call for her to give back her Nobel Peace Prize. The word "genocide" is now used, with some justification, [...]

In the wake of another deadly school shooting in Florida, the lessons of past massacres in Vietnam can teach us about U.S. violence and the need to reform unchecked gun culture, discusses Lawrence Davidson. Back in October 2016 I wrote an analysis entitled “Are Humans Natural-Born Killers?” It described and commented on research on the origins of human violence published in the science jour [...]

NATO’s rapid expansion has not necessarily strengthened the alliance and the US should rethink its hostility towards Russia, former US Secretary of Defense William Perry said on RT’s SophieCo program. [...]

In this episode, we speak to Professor Mohammad Marandi from the University of Tehran ahead of the Iran-Turkey-Russia trilateral in Istanbul, which seeks to defeat British-backed atrocities in the Middle East. Britain’s former ambassador in Damascus on whether the US and the UK are using chemical attack allegations to justify breaches of the UN Charter. Plus, rock guitar legend Brian May on how [...]

Commenting on the claim made by the Iranian military that the US has provided direct assistance to Daesh in Afghanistan, political analyst Ahmad Wahid Mozhda told Sputnik that many Afghan politicians and ordinary Afghans are saying the same thing. According to the observer, the US's likely goal is to cause problems for the country's neighbors. [...]

Responding to NATO’s muscle flexing in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, which Moscow sees as a threat, Russia is upgrading its missile defenses with new and more accurate interceptors. The Russian military has successfully tested a new interceptor missile of for its A-135 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) system at a testing range in in Kazakhstan. [...]

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump released his “efficient, effective and accountable” budget for fiscal year 2019 and, to no surprise, social programs are on the chopping block. Aside from wanting to privatize the International Space Station and eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, Trump is also looking to cut food assistance programs by $214 billion. [...]

At a time of unprecedented goodwill between Seoul and Pyongyang over the Winter Olympics, the US has decided to double down on its inflammatory rhetoric, undermining a fragile thaw on the Korean Peninsula. On the eve of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, one would be forgiven for temporarily forgetting history’s bitter divisions on the Korean Peninsula. [...]

Lebanon is a pressure cooker which could blow at any moment, but don’t worry about confused US policy. Israel’s threats to invade are not irking the Lebanese, but many wish Hezbollah would end a local Shiite-Christian spat. [...]

More than half a year after being liberated, Mosul's battle wounds still fester. Entire districts lie in ruins with bodies scattered in the streets, and locals say they have yet to see the aid they were promised. [...]

From the Archive: With Moscow saying that U.S. proposals in its new Nuclear Posture Review to develop “tactical” nukes are “confrontational” and “anti-Russian,” we republish a 2016 article by Robert Parry. Through an endless barrage of ugly propaganda, the U.S. government and the mainstream American press have put the world on course for a potential nuclear showdown with Russia, an exi [...]

Perpetual war is leading to a host of societal ills, yet debates on war and peace are almost entirely absent from public discourse, Robert Wing and Coleen Rowley observe. Last October marked the 16th anniversary of our unending war – or military occupation – in Afghanistan, the longest conflict on foreign soil in U.S. history. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told Sputnik on Saturday, hours after a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft was downed by militants in Syria, that the United States did not equip partner forces in Syria with surface-to-air weapons. Alongside by, with, and through our partners in Syria, the United States remains focused on the fight against ISIS [Daesh]. [...]

Russian lawmakers have called for a thorough investigation on the origins of the man-portable missile launcher that was likely used by militants in Syria to shoot down a Russian fighter jet before killing the pilot in a firefight. "Certainly, we will investigate, including a great many things: [...]

Congress has authorized $618.7 billion for the 2017 military budget. The bill ups aid to Ukraine by $50 million and allows the transfer of missiles to Syrian rebels. However, it omits controversial provisions about drafting women or religious exemptions for contractors. [...]

The problem-ridden US fighter-jet, projected to become the backbone of the Norwegian defense, as well as the nation's costliest defense purchase, is being met with increasing criticism in the Nordic country, as complications keep piling up. Reds leader Bjørnar Moxnes expressed his indignation over billions of kroner splurged on a plane, which has "a thousand errors" and cannot be used half the ti [...]

So far, the story of the US F-35 fighter aircraft in Norway has been a drama of epic proportions. Soon after the first jets landed on Norwegian soil, it was discovered that the expensive warplanes designed to be the backbone of Norway's defense lack adequate protection and will have to be stored in tents for lack of hangars. [...]