person:niles williamson

Massive military escalation looms as ISIS advances in Iraq - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/05/22/isis-m22.html?view=mobilearticle

Massive military escalation looms as ISIS advances in Iraq

By Niles Williamson
22 May 2015

The Pentagon announced Thursday that it will rush 2,000 AT-4 anti-tank rockets to the Iraqi military following the capture of Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s western Anbar province, by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS fighters have seized control of tanks, artillery and large caches ammunition abandoned by the Iraqi military as they fled. More than 40,000 civilians have been forced from their homes by the ISIS advance.

US president Barack Obama, in an interview with the Atlantic published Thursday, described the loss of Ramadi as a “tactical setback,” but said that he did not think that the US was losing the fight against ISIS. “There’s no doubt that in the Sunni areas, we’re going to have to ramp up not just training, but also commitment, and we better get Sunni tribes more activated than they currently have been,” Obama stated.

#is #isis #irak #syrie

Houthi militia takes over Taiz as Yemen descends into civil war - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/03/23/yeme-m23.html

Houthi militia takes over Taiz as Yemen descends into civil war
By Niles Williamson
23 March 2015

Houthi militia members seized the military airport in Taiz on Saturday without any resistance from Yemeni military forces. The capture of Taiz brings the Houthi forces within 180 kilometers of the southern port city of Aden, the hometown and stronghold of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

#yemen

Ebola epidemic continues to ravage West Africa - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/04/ebol-d04.html

Ebola epidemic continues to ravage West Africa
By Niles Williamson
4 December 2014

According to the latest report from the World Health Organization released on Wednesday, the death toll from the ongoing Ebola epidemic has officially surpassed 6,000, with more than 17,145 reported cases of infection. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Spain and the United States have had person-to-person transmissions of the disease. Now entering its second year, the ongoing epidemic is the deadliest and most widespread outbreak of the Ebola virus on record.

#ebola
Accounting for more than 99 percent of infections and deaths, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia continue to be the epicenter of the epidemic. While the number of newly reported cases has fallen significantly in Liberia and Guinea, with fewer than 600 new cases reported in the two countries combined in the last three weeks, the situation continues to be quite acute in Sierra Leone, where more than 1,400 new cases were reported in the same time period.

WHO, CDC heads warn of Ebola epidemic’s dangers - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/10/14/whow-o14.html

WHO, CDC heads warn of Ebola epidemic’s dangers
By Niles Williamson
14 October 2014

In a notable address delivered Monday, the World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan defined the ongoing Ebola epidemic as “unquestionably the most severe acute public health emergency in modern times.”

Noting the potentially devastating outcomes if the crisis is not stopped soon, she stated that the Ebola crisis threatened “the very survival of societies and governments in already very poor countries.”

#ebola

US drone strikes kill dozens in Yemen, Pakistan - World Socialist Web Site

▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/06/10/dron-j10.html

US drone strikes kill dozens in Yemen, Pakistan
By Niles Williamson
10 June 2013

In the two and a half weeks since President Barack Obama’s speech at the National Defense University justifying his policy of drone assassination, as many as 25 people have been killed and as many as 12 others injured in four US drone missile attacks in Pakistan and Yemen. The attacks demonstrate that the Obama administration intends to continue indefinitely its illegal assassination campaign.

#drones #yémen #pakistan