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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
DC Guard slated to deploy by mid-week, defense official says
The Army has activated about 800 D.C. National Guard soldiers to support law enforcement across the nation's capital, where President Donald Trump has declared a public safety emergency despite the city's mayor saying crime there is on the decline. A defense official told Military Times on Monday that troops should arrive by midweek, with 'mission planning ongoing.' Between 100-200 soldiers at any given time will be supporting law enforcement with administrative tasks, logistics and physical presence, according to the Army. 'They will be strong, they will be tough and they will stand with their law enforcement partners,' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the White House on Monday. Hegseth added that the Department of Defense was prepared to bring in other National Guard units, but Army and National Guard officials told Military Times that they were unaware of which units he was referencing. Trump said that 'caravans of mass youth rampage through city streets at all times of the day,' with neighborhoods under emergency curfews. However, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a press conference Monday afternoon that violent crime has decreased in the city since a rise two years ago. 'We're at a 30-year violent-crime low. We're not satisfied. We haven't taken our foot off the gas and we continue to look for ways to make our city safer,' she said. Former military officers have suggested that Trump is deploying the Guard to 'distract' from a series of domestic challenges surrounding the president, ranging from his association with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to his decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after repeatedly claiming the lower-than-expected August job report was 'rigged.' Retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who served as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, told Military Times the crime situation in Washington falls far short of 'any emergency criteria that has ever been used' to deploy the Guard during or after his 35-year career. 'The president is creating a diversion of a make believe, fake situation,' he said. 'This is not a real emergency.' The decision to activate the Guard in the nation's capital is not unprecedented, but the move is typically centered around supporting law enforcement during major events such as inaugurations, parades or political gatherings like the NATO summit in Washington last year. When troops are activated to respond to civil disturbances, there is typically a concern that local or state police are being overwhelmed, or might be overwhelmed, by protesters or rioters. The last time the National Guard was activated to respond to a civil disturbance in Washington was on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters who were protesting the 2020 election results broke into the U.S. Capitol, beat police officers, destroyed government property and threatened elected officials. In 2022, a House committee investigating the insurrection found that the deployment of the Guard was delayed due to conflicting messages from leadership. In a more than 800-page report, the committee concluded that 'President Trump had authority and responsibility to direct deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, but never gave any order to deploy the National Guard on January 6.' 'That was real,' Manner said. 'This is absurd.' Manner, who now is part of a group called National Security Leaders for America, expressed his disappointment that Guard 'soldiers are being pulled out of their civilian jobs, away from their families, to be literally, absolutely, political props.' The Army did not provide cost estimates for the deployment, which former military officials predict will come with a price tag of millions of dollars likely pulled from the National Guard's operating budget. Former Guard officials warn the deployment could take money away from drills and individual training, negatively impacting readiness. The president paired the deployment of Guard troops with the announcement Monday that he was placing the D.C. police under direct federal control, a move that takes law enforcement decisions away from city leadership. Under the city's Home Rule Act, the president can take over local police for a period of up to 30 days by declaring an emergency. Without Congress passing a law to permit a longer period of federal control, local law enforcement officers will revert to city control after that time. Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
12 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Facing up to the stark realities of Gaza
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Netanyahu recently announced that Israel will take over the Gaza strip to 'further the elimination of Hamas.' It's another step in his attempt to annex Gaza. The United States has always considered Israel to be an ally. We have sent billions of dollars worth of weaponry and other aid to Israel. But Netanyahu is not our friend. The United States needs to stop supporting this power-hungry despot. Advertisement Sandra Breen Warwick, RI All eyes are on the innocents of Gaza Re ' Advertisement As plans to escalate the war against Hamas come to light, the horror of starvation in Gaza increases daily. The people of the world are watching the heartless killing of innocents in Gaza — women, children, and the disabled. Israel, Hamas, and Iran are directly culpable. But we American taxpayers are financing this horror. We are paying for the fighter planes and ammunition used by armed Israelis to rain death and destruction on Gaza's people. We are complicit in the horrifying starvation of innocents, as the eyes of the world watch children struggle for life and die from lack of food. Unless this horror is stopped immediately and the besieged innocents of Gaza have access to food, water, and safety, then the aggressors — both Israel and Hamas — should be shunned by the world. A coalition led by the United Nations must be given direct access to Gaza, with armed security and a variety of peacekeepers paving the way. America, my country, must lead the way to peace in Gaza. We have been the world's peacekeepers since the end of World War II. Why are we now abandoning the innocent, the vulnerable, the starving children? John J. Drew Boston The writer is the former president/CEO of Action for Boston Community Development. History is repeating itself, and it needs to stop It is not anti-Jewish to be against the Israeli government's actions in Gaza, which many experts conclude amount to genocide. Such mass starvation is an affront to humanity. Competent humanitarian agencies need to be given access to those starving; the annihilation of the Palestinian people needs to stop. President Bill Clinton wavered and did not call the Rwanda tragedy a genocide until it was too late. History is now repeating itself. Advertisement John Hammock Belmont The writer is president of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation and former president of Oxfam America. There probably won't be a 'Diary of a Young Girl' from Gaza Why we will likely never get to know the 'Anne Frank' of Gaza: 1. There is no attic in Gaza. 2. There is no food in Gaza. 3. There is no neighbor who can protect her. 4. Her family is likely injured or dead. 5. International journalists are not allowed in Gaza. 6. Soon, she will be dead. Kathleen Curtis Marblehead Some needed momentum for a two-state solution Re ' Ron Israel Milton Hisham Jabi Nablus, West Bank The writers are members of the board of the Global Citizens' Initiative, a nonprofit focused on bringing people and organizations together to solve global problems. Where is the outrage over Hamas's actions? Where's the outrage? Hamas recently released video showing two barely alive, emaciated Israeli hostages abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, 2023. Outrage against the tragedies of the continuing war in the aftermath of that vicious attack appears to be selective. It is reserved for Israel as the perceived sole perpetrator of all the misery now engulfing Gaza. Hamas, which for 20 years brutally oppressed the population under its control, in part through holding the reins of food and aid distribution, gets a pass from the international community. The new video evidence of Hamas's starvation of these hostages can't move the needle. Instead, France, Britain, and Canada have announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state, under various conditions. With no plan for effective governance in place, how will that help? Absent a coordinated agreement for responsible administration of Gaza by a coalition of Arab and Western power players, it won't. Advertisement David Greenfield Waltham Israelis and Americans need to take a stand I agree with John Benjamin's piece 'Israel is losing America' (Ideas, Aug. 10). The Gaza atrocities are terrible. The United States would have lost worldwide support if we conducted our Afghanistan war with such callous regard for civilians. Israel must be held responsible for its conduct. At the same time, the Trump administration is using American Jews and Israel as a divisive lever in the United States. His extortion of universities and companies is based in part on claims of antisemitism, while completely ignoring anti-Palestinian views. The good people of Israel, like the good people of the United States, need to reject the policies of their extremist governments and enable freedom and equality for all. John Greichen Jr. Newport, R.I.
13 hours ago
Takeaways from the Trump-Putin meeting: No agreement, no questions but lots of pomp
WASHINGTON -- The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin began with a warm welcome and a flyover by screaming jets at a U.S. military base in Alaska but ended with a thud Friday after they conceded that they had failed to reach any agreements on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war. After about 2 1/2 hours of talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the two men appeared before reporters for what had been billed as a joint news conference — but they took no questions. 'We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left,' Trump said. 'We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' Putin, welcomed into the U.S. after being shunned by Western allies since early 2022 for ordering the invasion of Ukraine, thanked Trump for hosting the meeting and suggested with a chuckle that the next time the two sit down it could be in Moscow. Here are key takeaways from the summit: Putin got a red carpet welcome and even rode in Trump's presidential limousine from the tarmac to the summit venue. There, the pair were joined by two of their top aides: Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff for Trump and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and national security adviser Yuri Ushakov for Putin. Putin, who spoke first after the meeting concluded, lauded the historical relationship between the United States, Russia and the former Soviet Union, recalling joint missions conducted by the two countries during World War II. He said the U.S. and Russia share values, a standard talking point for Russian officials when trying to woo Trump and his aides. Putin also noted that Trump has frequently said the Ukraine war wouldn't have happened had he won the 2020 election. "I think that would have been the case," the Russian leader said, a comment sure to please Trump. However, there is no indication and no way to prove that Moscow would have acted differently toward Ukraine had Democrat Joe Biden not been elected. Trump had gone into the meeting hoping to get Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine — or at least a commitment from Russia to enter into negotiations to reach one. Instead, Trump conceded that 'we haven't quite got there' and said he would be conferring with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO leaders about next steps. Trump said he and Putin had made some significant progress toward the goal of ending the conflict but gave no details on what that entailed and had to acknowledge that they had been unable to bridge substantial gaps. 'I believe we had a very productive meeting,' Trump said. 'We haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway. So, there's no deal until there's a deal.' In a subsequent conversation with Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, Trump again offered no details on his discussions with Putin. Amid drawn-out diplomatic moves to end the war, time is appears to be on Putin's side. That gives a leg up to Russian forces, who have used their larger numbers to slowly grind down defenses in eastern Ukraine 3 1/2 years into the conflict. Putin got a pleasant reception from the leader of the free world on U.S. soil and walked away hours later without either providing details on what they discussed, whether a ceasefire was any closer to reality or what the next steps would be. Putin praised Trump for the 'friendly' tone of the talks — Trump said nothing publicly about the killing of Ukrainian civilians in Moscow's attacks — and for 'understanding that Russia has its own national interests.' Putin said Moscow and Washington should 'turn the page,' with relations having sunk to the lowest point since the Cold War. Putin appearing in the U.S. for the first time in 10 years was celebrated as a sign that Moscow was no longer a pariah on the global stage. In a social media post, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told followers that the Western press would be on the verge of 'losing their minds.' 'For three years, they talked about Russia's isolation, and today they saw the red carpet being rolled out to greet the Russian president in the United States,' she said. Both men said the talks were 'productive' but the lack of any announcement of solid achievements was revealing. The news conference ended up being less than 15 minutes of rather standard diplomatic comments — and gave no indication that any concrete results were achieved — and offered little departure from their previous comments on the war in Ukraine. Trump has made it a feature of his second term to parry questions from reporters in front of world leaders, but in the clearest sign of his disappointment, the president abruptly cut short his plans to take questions. Trump had gone into the summit saying here was a 25% chance that the summit would fail and that it was meant to be a 'feel-out meeting,' but he had also floated the idea of bringing Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting if things went well. It's unclear what comes next.
