In a surprising statement, American Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the United States would begin more “direct action on the ground” against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
“We won’t hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against ISIL, or conducting such missions directly whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground,” Carter said during a hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services committee.
The announcement came a few days after an American soldier- Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler was killed during a mission to liberate a ISIS prison camp in Iraq.
From NBC News:
“Carter and Pentagon officials initially refused to characterize the rescue operation as U.S. boots on the ground. However, Carter said last week that the military expects “more raids of this kind” and that the rescue mission “represents a continuation of our advise and assist mission.”
This may mean some American soldiers “will be in harm’s way, no question about it,” Carter said last week.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made it clear that he was not a believer in the strategy Carter presented during the hearing.
“This is a half-assed strategy at best,” Graham, a Republican presidential candidate said.
WATCH: Video of American liberation of ISIS prison camp from Global Leaks News (Obtained by NBC News)
Cover Photo Credit: 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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This Video Of The Death Of Alton Sterling Is One Of The Worst Things We’ve Ever Seen
A 37 year old man named Alton Sterling, was killed in the early hours of July 5th in Baton Rouge, LA after being shot by police.
Not much is known about the incident but someone did record the end of it.
The video is hard to watch. But we all must figure out what happened:
According to the Advocate, Sterling was selling CD’s in front of a convenience store when he got involved with “some type of altercation” with two police officers.
The situation then escalated to the point that Sterling was thrown to the ground and then shot by one officer “multiple” times.
This is a developing story. Stay with RISE NEWS.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
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Puerto Rico Should Become The 51st State
By Chidera O. Nwosu
The conversation about whether statehood should be granted to Puerto Rico is a fraught one indeed.
It is paramount to understand that Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island that remains currently as an unincorporated territory to the United States.
Famed American linguist, Noam Chomsky, once said that American Imperialism is often traced to the takeover of Cuba, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico in 1898.
With that being said, if America is able to dictate economic, military and cultural influence in itself, other countries, and unincorporated territories such as Puerto Rico – then why isn’t Puerto Rico the 51st state?
A great place to begin, would be in conferring superlative peculiarities in which Puerto Rico is hailed for.
Puerto Rico, known for its beautiful lands and mountains, the El Yunque tropical rainforest, and cultural Spanish colonial buildings, is often regarded as a place of tourism.
On a more serious note, Puerto Rico is a populated territory, in which its populace is greater than half of the states formally incorporated into the United States.
Many people are often unaware that Puerto Rico is quite established with common languages being both Spanish and English.
For those reasons alone, Puerto Rico should be the 51st state.
Despite the fact that the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, Puerto Ricans are already required to pay most US federal taxes.
To place this into perspective, in 2009, Puerto Rico paid $3.742 billion into the US Treasury.
With this in mind, if Puerto Rico – a U.S territory – is paying taxes to the U.S federal government, why should statehood even be a question?
Puerto Ricans have been granted U.S. citizenship since 1917. In other words, Puerto Ricans have been granted U.S citizenships for 99 years (1-year shy from a century) and admittance into the U.S has yet to occur.
In 2012, 61% of voters supported statehood.
More than half of eligible voters, voted in advocating of beginning the process in admitting Puerto Rico to the Union.
The people of Puerto Rico spoke and they want Congress to answer their demands.
Statehood now!
It is vital for Puerto Rico to become formally recognized and incorporated into the United States because it elevates the quality of life in Puerto Rico, aids in its economic salvation, and fashions innovative and integrative access to education and career opportunities.
The latter issue is quite problematic as Puerto Rico is losing doctors on a daily basis.
It is even more caustic, how Puerto Ricans pay US federal taxes but have little to no say in governmental actions.
As Chomsky states, American Imperialism has been deeply rooted in Puerto Rico – why not just harvest it?
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Juan Cristobal Zulueta/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Please Stop Sharing Photos Like These On Social Media. You Are Making Things Worse
We here at RISE NEWS came across the photo below on social media a day before the tragic slaying of five police officers in Dallas.
We found it absolutely repugnant at the time but did not say anything.
We were wrong not to.
We all need to take a stand when we see people post horrific images because sometimes they can inspire people to do horrific things.
Here is the image in question:
We will not be “outing” the person that posted the image because they are a private citizen and we hope they will learn from this mistake without their reputation being damaged in the process.
From the post:
“This photo may offend some individuals and I clearly don’t give AF! America needs to realize that it’s not about BLACK OR WHITE PEOPLE. It’s more about these crooked ass so called law enforcement officers. Now, there are some good ones and I applaud you for standing in unity and going against negativity and protecting this country but some of you abuse your authority when you in a little position of power. #RIP #AltonSterling”
No one posted arguing that the image was terrible.
In fact, some people egged it on.
One person wrote:
“There are good cops out the there. But there are too many bad ones too. Racism is strong in this country. A lot of the problems with these deaths is because of a racist society. I’ve been here long enough to see a lot of it. Just think what our parents and there parents have seen.”
Another said:
“I take issue with the so called good ones too because most of them allow this shit to go on and don’t say anything.”
We agree that Black Lives Matter.
There is no question that police violence and systemic racism in our justice system are real issues that we have not done a good enough job in weeding out as a country.
There are racist cops. There are dirty cops. There are bad cops.
But there are also really great cops who take their jobs seriously and work everyday to protect the people of this country. Without them, we will have no peace. Without them, we will have no democracy.
While the Black Lives Matter fight must continue to go on as the deaths of young black men in this country will undoubtedly continue as this summer grows hotter, we must all do our part in lowering the rhetoric.
Posting a photo to social media depicting a police officer having his throat slashed by a ISIS like figure with American flag colored gun straps is not helping.
It is not good social commentary. It is not interesting. It is only vile.
Of course this does go both ways.
All of us have seen countless racist memes pop up on our feeds from time to time or the words All Lives Matter as a substitute for real conversation about what is needed to make things better.
We are wrong when we don’t confront people who post those images as well.
We can make things better in this country. We can create a better future where the relationship between the police and people of color can be strong and respected.
But we can certainly not have this future if we don’t trust each other. And we certainly can’t bring about that future if we hate each other.
Love and respect is the only answer.
And it is time that we all do our part.
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