Archiv: Joseph L. Votel


29.05.2023 - 19:57 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

Schweinebucht am Bosporos

(30. Juli 2016)

Votel, steil aufgestiegen vom Leiter des Kommdos für Sonderoperationen (S.O.C.O.M.) zum Leiter des Zentralkommandos, hatte sich im Mai unter Begleitung von diverser U.S.-Presse zu einem Besuch in den eroberten Teil Syriens begeben – wir fragten diesbezüglich, ob zu “geheimer Vorbereitung für einen bevorstehenden Coup”.

Wohlgemerkt: die nun von Votel gestern im Aspen Think Tank vorgetragenen “Besorgnisse” hat die U.S.-Militär- und Kriegslobby schon in der Nacht zum 16. Juli, als sich das Scheitern des Putsches abzeichnet. Die “Washington Post” ändert ihre diesbezügliche Schlagzeile (vorher / nachher).

Gerade auf Votels nun fast zwei Wochen später gezielt gestartete Provokation antwortet Tayyip Erdogan, der in der Nacht des Putsches gerade noch dem Schicksal von Ägyptens demokratisch gewählten Präsident Mohammed Mursi entging, in bislang ungekannter Deutlichkeit: Zentralkommando-Leiter Votel stelle sich damit auf die Seite der Putschisten. Wer dieser General Votel überhaupt sei, was er sich einbilde.

Nicht nur für N.A.T.O.-Verhältnisse ein Präzedenzfall.

12.12.2019 - 10:25 [ Joseph Votel / New York Times ]

Ending America’s Endless War in Afghanistan

We are now in a position to seal a United States-Taliban agreement that would lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and move the conflict into the political realm. We should not miss this opportunity.

The war has exacted an overwhelming cost: 1,892 American military personnel killed in action and 20,589 wounded, about a trillion dollars spent, the psychological and emotional impact on veterans and their families, and similar material and human costs to our allies. And there is the devastating cost paid by the people of Afghanistan: Of the 147,000 killed in the war since 2001, more than 38,000 have been civilians. This long war must end.

10.02.2019 - 17:20 [ CNN ]

Sold to an ally, lost to an enemy

(6.2.2019) The US shipped weapons and secrets to the Saudis and Emiratis. Now, some are in the hands of fighters linked to al Qaeda and Iran.

21.12.2018 - 05:12 [ Newsweek.com ]

Who Is U.S. Bombing in Syria? Government, Activists Accuse Coalition of Attacking Army Instead of ISIS

(3.12.2018) Nevertheless, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitor with ties to the Syrian opposition, appeared to corroborate the government with its own account published Monday. The report claimed that about 15 missiles had been fired from Al-Tanf, where the U.S. base was located, toward pro-government positions.

12.11.2018 - 19:42 [ CNN ]

Pentagon rejects request for additional military resources in Persian Gulf

It also comes as Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, are engaged in high-level classified discussions with senior commanders around the world about how to allocate military resources for the next two years, officials say.

12.11.2018 - 19:31 [ OttawaCitizen.com ]

Military contractor received $1.6 billion to advise Afghans but results unknown

(31.10.2018) The U.S. government’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that since 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded four contracts, worth $1.62 billion U.S., to DynCorp International to provide contract advisors at Afghan MOD and MOI. Two of these contracts, worth $421 million, are ongoing and expected to end in November 2018.
And the results?

12.11.2018 - 19:15 [ ORF.at ]

Mehr als 100 Tote bei Gewaltwelle in Afghanistan

Die meisten Opfer seien Sicherheitskräfte. Der Attentäter habe die Bombe an einem Polizeikontrollpunkt in der Nähe einer Schule gezündet, teilte das Innenministerium mit. Dort demonstrierten Hunderte Angehörige der schiitischen Volksgruppe der Hasara für mehr Schutz der Regierung vor Angriffen der Taliban. Zu dem Anschlag bekannte sich zunächst niemand.

26.10.2018 - 05:49 [ Ahmad Al-Issa ‏/ Twitter ]

To the #American people: Imagine a #Syrian General with his soldiers occupying part of your sovereign homeland. What is General Joseph #Votel doing in #Tanf area in #Syria? #FromSyria

13.10.2018 - 20:15 [ Buzzfeed ]

The Pentagon Used To Hide US Troops In Syria. Now It‘s Posting Videos Of Them On Twitter.

(3.10.2018) A few years ago it would have been jarring to see the US military presence in Syria promoted as if it were Afghanistan. But overlapping and intentionally vague statements about what exactly US troops in Syria are doing, how many of them are doing it, and how long they are planning to be there have seemed to lull much of the country into accepting that they are there long term.

13.10.2018 - 20:02 [ US Zentralkommando (Centcom) ]

Department Of Defense Press Briefing By General Joseph Votel via teleconference from Tampa, Florida, on Operations in the Central Command Area of Responsibility

(4.10.2018) In Syria, we will remain with our partners to ensure the defeat of ISIS and provide an opportunity for a negotiated political resolution of the Syrian conflict and humanitarian crisis, consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.

Recent pledges of more than $300 million in new funding for stabilization and humanitarian aid from our coalition partners is a welcome start to consolidating our military gains.

25.08.2018 - 11:32 [ Intercept ]

Military Brass Tells Congress It Has No Idea What Saudi Arabia Is Doing With U.S. Bombs in Yemen

(14.3.2018) Warren followed up by describing an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition that struck civilians in February. The attack, in the northern Yemen town of Saada, killed five civilians. Medical staff who rushed in to help survivors were hit in a follow-up attack, Warren noted. (This is known as a “double-tap” airstrike.)

“General Votel, when you receive reports like this from credible media organizations or outside observers, is CENTCOM able to tell if U.S. fuel or U.S. munitions were used in that strike?”

“No, senator, I don’t believe we are,” he replied.

25.08.2018 - 11:28 [ Washington Post ]

End U.S. support for this misbegotten and unwinnable war

ON AUG. 9, an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen struck a bus packed with young boys in the northern village of Dahyan, killing at least 51 people, including 40 children, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. As Saudi spokesmen defend this horrific massacre — one called the bus a “legitimate military target” — Trump administration officials are being pressed by members of Congress …

29.07.2018 - 12:40 [ Bloomberg.com ]

Russia-U.S. Syria Deal Hits Trouble as Post-Summit Tensions Grow

The U.S. “has not fulfilled its own promises” made in Helsinki to remove opposition forces to enable a buffer zone on Syria’s border with Israel, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The Defense Ministry accused the U.S. of sabotaging the agreement after a senior American commander, General Joseph Votel, said that his country’s military won’t cooperate with Russian forces beyond a de-confliction hotline to avoid unintended clashes.

21.06.2018 - 15:14 [ Petra - Jordan News Agency ]

King receives US officials

(20.6.2018) His Majesty King Abdullah II on Wednesday received United States Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, John C. Rood, and Commander of United States Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, to discuss bilateral relations and developments in the region.

04.04.2018 - 10:25 [ Army Times ]

Trump says ‘it’s time’ to leave Syria; Votel says we’re staying

At almost the exact same time that President Donald Trump said at the White House Tuesday that the U.S. will soon be departing Syria, his top commander for forces there said the U.S. is in for the long haul.

In a speech before the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington the commander of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, said that the next steps in Syria require “stabilizing these areas, consolidating gains, getting people back into homes, [and] addressing long term issues of reconstruction.”

04.04.2018 - 04:33 [ U.S.-Aussenministerium ]

Press Briefing with Commander of U.S. Central Command General Joseph L. Votel

(28.3.18) We have just completed some visits in the United Kingdom, as Mr. Tek said, again with our partners there. The UK forces have been great partners to us so it was a great opportunity to talk about many of our cooperative efforts that we are conducting together and, of course, to discuss the situation in the region. This afternoon I find myself on a jet flying back to our headquarters in Tampa. So that is what I have been doing for the last almost two weeks and I am very pleased with the continued progress that I see with our forces, with our coalition partners, and with our partners in the region working together. It certainly remains a very serious situation and very dynamic situation across the region with a variety of different actors but again, these trips are always great opportunities for us to reinforce our efforts and ensure that we stay in alignment with all of our partners.