War DogsMovie 2016
War Dogs is a 2016 American film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Phillips, Jason Smilovic and Stephen Chin, based on a 2011 Rolling Stone article by Guy Lawson,[5] as well as Efraim Diveroli's 2016 memoir Once a Gun Runner as outlined in an ongoing lawsuit.[6][7] Lawson then wrote a 2015 book, Arms and the Dudes, detailing the story.[8] The film follows two arms dealers, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, who receive a U.S. Army contract to supply ammunitions for the Afghan National Army worth approximately $300 million.[9] The film, which has an unreliable narrator, is heavily fictionalized and dramatized,[10][11] and some of its events, such as the duo driving through Iraq, were either invented or based on other events, such as screenwriter Stephen Chin's own experiences.[12][13]
War DogsMovie | 2016
The film stars Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Ana de Armas, and Bradley Cooper, who also co-produced. Filming began on March 2, 2015 in Romania. The film premiered in New York City on August 3, 2016 and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 19, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $86 million.[14] Hill received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.[15]
Mental health data from the 2016-2017 Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study (VE-HEROeS) were analyzed by cohort, represented by United States Vietnam theater veterans (VTs) who served in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; nontheater veterans (NTs) without theater service; and age- and sex-matched nonveterans (NVs) without military service. The exposure of interest was Vietnam theater service. Surveys mailed to random samples of veterans (n = 42,393) and nonveterans (n = 6,885) resulted in response rates of 45.0% for veterans (n = 6,735 VTs, Mage = 70.09, SE = 0.04; n = 12,131 NTs) and 67.0% for NVs (n = 4,530). We examined self-report data on four mental health outcomes: probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, psychological distress, and overall mental health functioning. Weighted adjusted odds ratios (aORs) between each outcome and cohort were estimated, controlling for covariates in four models: cohort plus sociodemographic variables (Model 1), Model 1 plus physical health variables (Model 2), Model 2 plus potentially traumatic events (PTEs; Model 3), and Model 3 plus other military service variables (Model 4). Mental health outcome prevalence was highest for VTs versus other cohorts, with the largest aOR, 2.88, for PTSD, 95% CI [2.46, 3.37], p
PreviousCongo Ground WarNextResistance-Harvester WarWar of 2016DateJuly 2nd - July 4th, 2016LocationEarth
Moon
Rhea
Outcome Human pyrrhic victory Final defeat of alien threat on Earth
Emergence of Earth as an interstellar leader of the Sphere's resistance
Belligerents United Nations Supported by: Sphere
The War of 2016 was the second large scale conflict between the human race and the Harvesters. The war occurred on 4 July 2016, exactly as it occurred twenty years earlier in the War of 1996. The invasion began when an enormous alien mothership entered Earth's orbit, destroying the planet's defenses, and devastating numerous European and Asian cities upon its atmospheric entry. The aliens returned to finish where the previous invasion had failed, with the intent of harvesting Earth's resources, killing all life on the planet in the process.
On July 3, 2016, the Earth Space Defense lost contact with Rhea Base. After several attempts to contact Rhea failed, the ESD used the Hubble Space Telescope to examine Rhea and found it to be destroyed and replaced by a massive vortex created near Saturn's orbit. Soon afterward, an unidentified alien ship emerges through a wormhole near the Moon. Believing the unknown spaceship is responsible for the destruction of Rhea Base, the ESD were then given order by the United Nations Security Council to attack the ship in which the ESD Moon Base fired its main weapon at the ship and causing it to crash on the lunar surface.
Since 2016, Turkish troops have launched several operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) near its borders, as well as against Kurdish groups armed by the United States.
In December 2016, the Syrian army scored its biggest victory against the rebels when it recaptured the strategic city of Aleppo. Since then, the FSA has controlled limited areas in northwestern Syria.
The Syrian government is putting on a brave face. Its 2,660 billion pound state budget for 2017 has been advertised as its biggest spending spree ever, a 34 percent bigger budget than the previous one, even though its dollar value is significantly less than that for 2016. But the government is finding it increasingly difficult to keep services running. Consumers suffer from inflated prices, businesses are failing, black-marketeering spreads, and state and army salaries have been dramatically hollowed-out. Even to run basic security, the regime is increasingly forced to rely on decentralized self-funding or foreign-funded networks of militias. There was no catastrophic financial meltdown in 2016, but in the long term, this is all bad news for Assad.
In spring 2016, Turkey began to enact major changes to its foreign policy. By summer 2016, relations with Israel and Russia had been unfrozen. Turkish officials also signaled that they were thinking pragmatically about their involvement in Syria and would focus more on containing the U.S.-backed expansion of PKK-friendly Kurdish groups. On August 24, Turkey sent troops into Syria, pushing the Islamic State away from its border and blocking the Kurds from creating a contiguous PKK-dominated territory north of Aleppo, while avoiding direct clashes with Assad.
Cover Photo: Children and their parents in December 2016 gather around a fire to keep warm in the yard of a large warehouse in Jibreen, now used as a shelter for thousands of families who fled violence in eastern Aleppo. Source: UNICEF
Since October 7, 2001, U.S. Armed Forces, including special operations forces, have conducted counterterrorism combat operations in Afghanistan against al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and associated forces. Since August 2014, these operations have targeted the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which was formerly known as al-Qa'ida in Iraq. In support of these and other overseas operations, the United States has deployed combat-equipped forces to a number of locations in the U.S. Central, Pacific, European, Southern, and Africa Command areas of operation. Such operations and deployments have been reported previously, consistent with Public Law 107-40 and the War Powers Resolution, and operations and deployments remain ongoing. These operations, which the United States has carried out with the assistance of numerous international partners, have been successful in seriously degrading al-Qa'ida's and ISIL's capabilities and brought an end to the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan. These operations also included an airstrike conducted by U.S. forces on May 21, 2016, against Taliban leader Mullah Mansur in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. If necessary, in response to terrorist threats, I will direct additional measures to protect U.S. citizens and interests. It is not possible to know at this time the precise scope or the duration of the deployments of U.S. Armed Forces necessary to counter terrorist threats to the United States.
Iraq and Syria. As part of a comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL, U.S. Armed Forces are conducting a systematic campaign of airstrikes and other necessary actions against ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria. United States Armed Forces are also conducting airstrikes in Syria against operatives of al-Qa'ida, including those who are involved in al-Qa'ida's plotting against the West. In Iraq, U.S. Armed Forces are advising and coordinating with Iraqi forces and providing training, equipment, communications support, intelligence support, and other support to select elements of the Iraqi security forces, including Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces. In February 2016, U.S. Armed Forces captured Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar, also known as Abu Dawud, an ISIL "emir" of its chemical and conventional weapons manufacturing, in Iraq. On March 10, 2016, Dawud was transferred to Iraqi government custody. United States Armed Forces remain postured to support or conduct further similar operations in Iraq and Syria. Additionally, small teams of U.S. special operations forces have deployed to northern Syria to help coordinate U.S. operations with indigenous ground forces conducting operations against ISIL. The Force Management Level for U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq currently is 4,087. The Force Management Level for U.S. Armed Forces in Syria is 300.
Somalia. In Somalia, U.S. forces continue to counter the terrorist threat posed by al-Qa'ida and associated elements of al-Shabaab and to provide advice and assistance to regional counterterrorism forces, including Somali National Army and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces. On March 31, 2016, U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against an al-Shabaab senior leader, Hassan Ali Dhoore, who is part of al-Qa'ida. On May 27, 2016, U.S. forces carried out an airstrike against Abdullahi Haji Da'ud, one of al-Shabaab's most senior commanders, who is also part of al-Qa'ida and served as the principal coordinator of al-Shabaab's attacks in Somalia and Kenya. United States forces also conducted strikes in defense of U.S. forces, and in defense of partnered Somali and AMISOM forces between March 5 and May 13, 2016, notably including the March 5 airstrike against an al-Shabaab training facility where fighters posed an imminent threat to U.S. and AMISOM forces. 041b061a72