- Donald Trump plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. Trump has not decided if the US will follow the formal withdraw process. [Link]
- The amount of student loan money borrowed by deep subprime students increased by 32% in the past year. [Link]
- 11 Americans were injured in the suicide attack in Kabul that killed 80 people. [Link]
- The US is continuing to back an elite Iraqi special forces unit that was recently exposed to be committing war crimes. [Link]
- ISIS suicide bombers killed 31 people in Baghdad in a series of attacks. [Link]
- ISIS fighters in Mosul are reinforcing areas around the Grand Mosque in preparation for a battle. [Link]
- The US is dropping more bombs in Syria every month. The increase in attacks is leading to more civilians deaths. [Link]
- Will Porter looks at the chaotic American foreign policy in Syria. [Link]
- Scott Horton interview Clair Manera on the cholera outbreak in Yemen. [Link]
- A UN report finds that the crisis in Yemen that has been warned about is now occurring. [Link]
- An Islamic State-linked rebel group in the Philippines continue to hold the city of Marawi. The government is using airstrikes to try to force the rebels from the city. The rebels are using stolen weapons and freed prisoners to aid the fight. [Link]
On Foreign Policy Focus #47, I discuss the change in US strategy in the ISIS War. General James Mattis announced the US is moving to an annihilation tactics strategy. Until now, the Trump Administration denied altering the US strategy against ISIS from the Obama policy. Under Trump, the US military increased the number of bombs being dropped, and this has resulted in more civilian deaths. This new strategy involves the US demanding civilians flee Mosul and Raqqa. Then the US will kill the remaining people. I argue this strategy will result in more blowback and more civilian deaths. LISTEN HERE!!
