Military Resistance 15H2
Trump Job Approval Rating Now At New Low:
“Trump's Rating Of 36% For The Week Ending Aug. 13 Was Also By One Point His Lowest On A Weekly Basis”
AUGUST 14, 2017 by Frank Newport, Gallup News [Excerpts]
President Donald Trump's job approval rating in Gallup Daily tracking is at 34% for the three-day period from Friday through Sunday -- by one point the lowest of his administration so far.
It is difficult to pinpoint the precise cause of the new low rating, but the changes were apparent on Friday, with his day-by-day ratings near 34% across Saturday and Sunday as well.
Trump has consistently been in the news over the past week, including the continued focus on North Korea, even while taking a working vacation at one of his golf properties in New Jersey. The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the deaths of a 32-year-old woman and two Virginia State Police officers dominated news coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
Trump's prior three-day low reading was 35%, registered March 26-28.
From a broader perspective, Trump's rating of 36% for the week ending Aug. 13 was also by one point his lowest on a weekly basis.
The president has talked in recent days about doing well with his "base," but Republicans' latest weekly approval rating of 79% was the lowest from his own partisans so far, dropping from the previous week's 82%.
Democrats gave Trump a 7% job approval rating last week, while the reading for independents was at 29%.
This is the first time independents' weekly approval rating for Trump has dropped below 30%.
Although he has the lowest rating in Gallup's history for any newly elected president in the summer of his first term in office, Trump's current 34% remains higher than the low points reached by a number of presidents during their administrations. Presidents George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Harry Truman all had job approval ratings lower than 34%, including the all-time low of 22% recorded by Truman in 1952.
Trump's current approval rating is lower than any reading for his immediate predecessor, Barack Obama, who reached a three-day low of 38% several times in 2011 and 2014.
AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS
Utah Soldier Killed In Afghanistan:
11 More Sustained Injury Clearing A Booby-Trapped Building For Safety Purposes “When The Shrapnel Flew, Killing Butler”
Aug 17th, 2017 By Pat Reavy and Annie Knox, KSL TV
MONTICELLO — A Special Forces soldier killed Wednesday in Afghanistan is remembered in his hometown as a scrappy champion wrestler who felt called to protect his country from a young age.
Army Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, 27, died in an explosion while he was clearing a booby-trapped building in the eastern part of the country. The Utah National Guard member knew as a youngster he would become an elite soldier, said his wrestling coach Kent Adair.
"He wasn't a sit-in-the-back-row kind of guy," Adair said. "That's probably why he got killed — because he was the first one through the door. That was his nature: I'll handle it for you, I'll take care of it. He was a leader. He wasn't a follower."
Adair and more than 200 others gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Monticello Thursday evening to honor Butler at a somber vigil attended by several veterans in uniform and many who brought American flags.
"In a life that was all too brief, our dear son and brother made the ultimate sacrifice for his country," his family said in a prepared statement. The Butler family said he personified the Army's values in everything he said and did.
"While we are heartbroken to become a gold star family, we honor Aaron’s service and sacrifice. Aaron was a strength to us, an inspiration to those around him, and a joy to have in our family."
Butler is one of four soldiers who graduated with honors from the Army Green Beret Special Forces Qualification Course in January 2016, according to the family.
He started visiting home more often, said Adair, who last saw Butler when he returned to visit family in January. The soldier was concerned about his girlfriend staying safe during his deployment, Adair said.
"That's what worried me about him going over there. He didn't care about his own safety. He cared about other people's safety, cause that's who he was," Adair said.
Butler was with a group of Utah National Guardsmen clearing a building in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday when a bomb went off.
Gov. Gary Herbert at a Thursday news conference said Butler was with a group of Utah National Guardsmen clearing a booby-trapped building for "safety purposes" when the shrapnel flew, killing Butler.
The other 11 sustained "various degrees of injury," Herbert said. Eight were Utah residents and three live out of state, he said, though they are all members of the Utah National Guard.
Family spokesman Bill Boyle said Butler was a career military man.
"His parents, when they heard a Utah National Guard soldier was killed in Afghanistan, they breathed a sigh of relief because they considered him a full-time member of the U.S. Army and not affiliated with the Utah National Guard. But he was with this National Guard group. They were all 12 together," he said.
Butler was very well-known in Monticello, being born and raised in the small southern Utah town, Boyle said.
"He was an absolute force of nature," he said.
Butler was the seventh of eight children, and one of seven brothers. He was a four-time state wrestling champion for Monticello High School.
The teen who started his freshman year at what his coaches estimated was about 90 pounds developed a singular mindset. "His high school wrestling career is legendary. He was just so dedicated and focused and relentless," Boyle said.
Butler applied the steadfast determination to his military goal, reading all he could on Special Forces in the U.S. Army, Adair said. It was during high school that he joined the Utah National Guard. He graduated in 2008.
From 2009-11, he served a mission in Ghana for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On its Facebook page Thursday, the Monticello wrestling team posted: "Always with us never forgotten. We love you Aaron!"
"It's a sad day for Monticello, for the Butler family, for the entire state of Utah, for the nation. He gave the ultimate sacrifice and was doing something that he dearly loved," Boyle said.
A funeral service for Butler is expected to take place Aug. 26 in the Monticello Stake Center. The sergeant will be buried in Monticello Cemetary.
As word spread of Butler's death Thursday, many took to social media to express their condolences and share memories.
"This kind of thing happens every day, but it's scary when it is someone that you know. Aaron was an incredibly hard worker. I remember seeing him wrestle and being amazed at how much heart he puts into things. The Butler family is in our prayers," one man posted.
The San Juan County Commission released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying county officials' "hearts are broken" and it was praying for the Butler family. "We will remember Aaron as a man that gave his life so that we may continue to live in the land of the free. His selfless service will not go unremembered or unthanked because we will remember and show gratitude to his family. We also send our prayers to the other members of Aaron's unit that were wounded during the mission and wish them a speedy recovery," the statement said.
Herbert said he would call the families of all 12 service members on Thursday to offer support, and said Butler's death is a reminder the war on terrorism continues.
"Our men and women are serving in very difficult places throughout the world," Herbert said.
At the Utah National Guard on Thursday, the mood was "very somber," spokeswoman Ileen Kennedy said.
"My heart aches for the loss and sacrifice of our members and their families," said Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard. Burton said he believes defending the country is important and dangerous "but this realization does little to console me during times of loss such as this."
Utah's congressional representatives on Thursday said they were praying for the family and were grateful for those who put their lives on the line to defend the nation.
Sen. Mike Lee issued a statement saying his heart goes out to the family and others whose loved ones are serving in the region. And Rep. Rob Bishop said he was praying for the Butlers, along with the other injured service members. Sen. Orrin Hatch also said he spoke with the Butlers to express his gratitude and sorrow.
POLITICIANS REFUSE TO HALT THE BLOODSHED
THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WAR
Taliban Retakes Eastern Afghan District From Afghan Forces:
“The Security Forces Asked For Air Support During The Clashes, But Did Not Receive A Response And Retreated From The District As A Result”
August 10, 2017 By Bill Roggio [Excerpt] Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.
The Taliban retook control of the contested district of Jani Khel in Paktia from Afghan forces last night. The district has changed hands three times over the past two weeks. The repeated loss of Jani Khel to the Taliban demonstrates the difficulties Afghan forces face in holding onto remote contested districts.
Afghan officials and the Taliban both confirmed that Jani Khel fell to the Taliban. An Afghan official told TOLONews that security forces retreated from the district center after Taliban fighters launched their assault.
“The security forces asked for air support during the clashes, but did not receive a response and retreated from the district as a result,” an official told the Afghan news agency.
Paktia province is a known stronghold of the Haqqani Network – the powerful Taliban subgroup based in eastern Afghanistan and in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Sirrajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani Network, serves as one of the Taliban’s two deputy emirs.
In a statement released on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban’s official propaganda outlet, the group claimed that “over 12 puppets were killed and at least 17 others suffered injuries” after Taliban fighters took control of the police headquarters, the district administrative center and surrounding security outposts. The Taliban claimed two of its fighters were killed and three more were wounded.
Additionally, the Taliban claimed it “seized from the enemy a large amount of arms, ammunition and other military equipment.” This claim is likely true, as the Taliban confiscated a large number of machine guns, RPG launchers, rifles, and crates of ammunition as well as military vehicles, including US-supplied HUMVEEs and Ford Ranger pickup trucks, when it overran Jani Khel more than two weeks ago.
The district has been consistently contested for more than a year, since the Taliban stormed it on Aug. 27, 2016. Afghan forces retook the district center, but the Taliban remained on the outskirts and threatened Afghan forces stationed there. Last March, the group claimed that all but six percent of the district was under Taliban control.
Resistance Action
2017-08-09 1TVNews.af
At least three military stuff wounded in a magnetic mine explosion in Kabul police district one; police told 1TV
Najib Danish spokesperson for the interior ministry of Afghanistan, adds that the incident targeted an army vehicle at around 7 PM on Wednesday.
Recently Magnetic mine explosions increased in Kabul as this week on Monday; there was an explosion in Kote Sangi as well.
8.9.17 Anadolu Agency 2017
Two local female employees of the Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, were shot dead, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Abdul Shukor Qudosi, governor of northern Bagram district, told Anadolu Agency that a group of four women guards employed at the air base were shopping at a nearby market at around noon time when they came under attack.
"Four women employees of a private security firm stationed at the outer first entry point of the base were shot at in the market," he said, adding one of the women died on the spot, while a second one succumbed to her wounds on the way to hospital.
Dr. Qasem Sangin, head of the Parwan Public Hospital, where the two wounded guards were taken, also confirmed the death toll.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Zaman Mamozai, the provincial police chief, said that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the shooting. He said the attackers were riding a motorcycle.
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“‘Whoever Comes To Afghanistan, Even Now, They Will Face The Fate Of Burnes, McNaughton And Dr. Brydon,’ Agreed Mohammad Khna, Our Host In The Village”
“Everyone Nodded Sagely Into Their Rice: The Names Of The Fallen Of 1842, Long Forgotten In Their Home Country, Were Still Common Currency Here”
“In Truth, All The Americans Here Know Their Game Is Over. It Is Just Their Politicians Who Deny This”
[Part 2]