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Washington, Apr 10 (PTI) The US is taking aggressive action to help the Ukrainians succeed on the battlefield and help them have the best possible position at the negotiating table, a top White House national security official said on Sunday.

Speaking to CNN, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US will play a key role in supporting Ukraine against Russia after Moscow attacked its neighbour.

We are taking aggressive action in an effort to both help the Ukrainians succeed on the battlefield and help the Ukrainians have the best possible position at the negotiating table, Sullivan said.

We will continue to do that. We will continue to rally the world in that regard. And the United States will play the key role it has played thus far in the days and weeks ahead, he added.

Referring to the appointment of General Aleksandr Dvornikov as new Russian commander in Ukraine, the US National Security Advisor said that no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.

They thought that they were going to be able to conquer the capital city and take other major cities with little resistance, that theyd, in fact, be welcomed with open arms. And what we have learned in the first several weeks of this war is that Ukraine will never be subjugated to Russia. It doesnt matter which general President Putin tries to appoint, he said.

Sullivan alleged that the new general has a resume that includes brutality against civilians in other theaters, in Syria.

We can expect more of the same in this theater. But its not something that we need to anticipate looking forward to. As we have already seen it, and we can expect more of it, he alleged.

This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians. And the United States is determined to do all that we can to support the Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands, Sullivan said.

President Joe Biden, he said, has been absolutely clear from before this conflict began that the United States is prepared to work with its allies to defend every inch of NATO territory.

That means every inch, including if mines showed up in a Romanian harbour or a Turkish harbour and caused damage or loss of life, he said.

In another interview to ABC News, Sullivan said the images that are being seen out of Bucha and other cities have been tragic, theyve been horrifying, theyve been downright shocking, but they have not been surprising.

We, in fact, before the war began, declassified intelligence and presented it indicating that there was a plan from the highest levels of the Russian government to target civilians who oppose the invasion, to cause violence against them, to organise efforts to brutalise them in order to try to terrorise the population and subjugate it. So this is something that was planned, he said.

Now in addition to that, I think there certainly are cases where individual soldiers or individual units got frustrated because the Ukrainians were beating them back. They had been told they were going to have a glorious victory and just ride into Kyiv without any opposition with the Ukrainians welcoming them. And when that didnt happen, I do think some of these units engaged in these acts of brutality, these atrocities, these war crimes even without direction from above, he said.

Responding to a question on ABC News, Sullivan said that the United States has not reached a determination on genocide.

We havent yet reached a determination on genocide. That is a determination that we work through systematically. There is a unit at the State Department that gathers evidence and then makes a legal analysis because genocide is actually a legal determination, he said.

But lets set legalities aside for a minute. I think we can all say that these are mass atrocities. These are war crimes. These are shocking and brutal acts that are completely unacceptable, beyond the pale for the international community. So whatever label one wants to affix to them, the bottom line is this, there must be accountability. And the United States will work with the international community to make sure theres accountability, he said. PTI LKJ RUP RUP RUP

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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US taking 'aggressive action' to help Ukrainians succeed on the battlefield: NSA Sullivan - ThePrint

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area in California, Dr. Tom Glenn originally enlisted in the Army so he could attend the Army Language School later called the Defense Language Institute, or DLI. With a passion and knack for linguistics, Glenn taught himself French and Italian as a child, studied Latin during high school and German during college.

With a craving for more, Glenn enrolled in DLI with the hopes of learning Chinese.

I wanted to go to the best language school in the U.S., maybe in the world, he said. But when I got [there], they told me they werent going to teach me Chinese, they were going to teach me a language I had never heard of: Vietnamese.

Glenn was a Soldier and had to follow orders, so he spent all of 1959 learning Vietnamese. He spent six hours a day in class with two hours of private study each night for a full year.

I graduated first in my class of ten, he said. I asked the Army to send me to Vietnam but [they said] they had nothing going on there. Instead, Glenn was assigned to the National Security Agency, or NSA, at Fort Meade, Maryland.

Still hoping to study Chinese, Glenn enrolled in George Washington University in Washington, D.C. as a part time graduate student. Glenn went on to earn a masters degree in government and a doctorate in public administration.

By the time Glenn finished his enlistment in 1961, he said he was comfortably speaking Vietnamese, Chinese and French; the three main languages spoken in Vietnam.

The NSA immediately offered Glenn a job at five steps above the normal level and sent him to Vietnam for the first time in 1962 as a civilian.

Between 1962 and 1975, I spent more time in Vietnam than in the U.S., he said.

Despite being a civilian, Glenn lived with the military as if he were still a Soldier.

I was one of them sleeping on the ground next to them, eating [field rations while] sitting in the dirt by their side, using their latrines and going into combat with them, he said. I was the only civilian I knew who was willing to put his life on the line by working with the military in combat on the battlefield.

Glenns job was in intelligence; using signals intelligence, intercepting and exploiting the enemys radio communications, informing friendly forces on what enemy force intentions were and where they were.

He says that the strongest human bond hes ever seen was that between two men fighting side by side.

Glenn spent his thirteen years in Vietnam all over the country, wherever combat was going on. He worked most often in central Vietnam, just south of the demilitarized zone that separated North and South Vietnam. The day-to-day was just like any other Soldier in combat.

[The days were] defined by the boredom of waiting and the terror of close combat, he said.

Glenn wants Americans to know the grisly horror of war. He wants citizens to respect and admire service members who put their lives on the line for our good.

After the Vietnam War, Glenns readjustment to civilian life would have been more difficult had he been sent straight home. Instead, he was sent abroad to serve on the battlefield all over the world after Saigon fell in 1975.

Glenn retired from NSA in 1992.

Welcome home, brother

When Glenn meets other Vietnam veterans, he puts his hands on their shoulders and looks them in the eye. They share an experience unknown to other Americans.

For years following the war, many Americans saw Vietnam as the war we never should have been involved in. During those years, Glenn never mentioned his service overseas.

Then, several years ago, I was invited to a welcome-home party for Vietnam veterans, he said. After some hesitation, I went. A bunch of young people, who hadnt even been born before the end of [the war], shook my hand, hugged me and thanked me for my service.

Glenn urges other Americans to approach those who served and thank them. Only then will that service member know that their service is worthy of gratitude.

Award-winning author

The real adjustment [came] thirty years ago when I retired as early as I could [to] write full time, Glenn said. I was so intent on writing that the transition was a relief rather than an adjustment.

Glenns first book is titled Friendly Casualties and consists of a collection of short stories to highlight the horrors of war. He chose to write about Vietnam because of his post-traumatic stress injuries, or PTSI. [It] wounded my soul, he said.

He learned that the only way to survive his injuries was to face the memories head-on. The best way to force himself to face those memories was to write it all down, which has resulted in six books and 17 short stories as of March 2022.

Glenns books are categorized as fact-based fiction which he said is the only way he could delve into the emotions [he] lived through in real life. He said hes lived through experiences far more compelling than anything completely made up.

I want people to know what [it was like], he said. I needed to vent, to stand face-to-face with my memories and learn to live with them.

Link:
Veteran, linguist reflects on Vietnam service | Article | The United States Army - United States Army

Findings of a recent survey completed by the National Sheep Association (NSA) have revealed that less than 5% of sheep farmers receive direct contact from the owners of dogs that have been involved in a sheep worrying attack on their livestock.

With almost 60% of survey respondents finding evidence of an attack having taken place rather than being alerted by the owner or another witness of an incident the result suggests animals are often likely to be left suffering and injured for a period of time causing extreme distress to the sheep and also the farmer on discovering the upsetting scenes.

NSA is therefore calling on dog owners to take responsibility for the attacks should their dog be involved in chasing and/or attacking sheep.

As the governments new draft Kept Animals Bill is proposing greater powers for police to trace and gain access to dogs involved in attacks this could create an improved situation for those involved.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker commented: It may feel daunting as a dog owner to come forward to a farmer to admit responsibility, but NSA believes that farmers would rather be informed by the dog owners themselves rather than finding injured, or even worse, dead sheep in their fields.

Sheep worrying by dogs is a crime but openness from the dog owner can mean a more amicable resolution can hopefully be achieved and it is better than having to explain a failure to report if the dog is able to be traced.

"Often dog owners simply do not realise their pet is capable of doing so much damage, and while we appreciate this crime is not one that any animal lover would set out to commit, taking responsibility is crucial and could help reduce cases for the future.

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NSA pleas with dog owners to take responsibility for sheep worrying - Agriland.co.uk

Disenchanted with the endless killings across the country, particularly in Kaduna State, the House of Representatives, last week, called for the removal of the National Security Adviser. PHILIP NYAM reports

Every discerning Nigerian is worried over the spate of killings across the country. For some time now, no day passes without reports of Nigerians being killed in one community or the other either by Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents, bandits, unknown gunmen, ritualists, kidnappers or cultists. It has become a recurrent decimal although the government has always assured Nigerians that the armed forces and security agencies are up to the task.

The negative impact of the killings is fast becoming overwhelming. Whether in the North-East, North-West, North Central, South-East, South-South or South-West, it is indeed a sad era in the history of the nation. Apparently frustrated by the sordid stories of killings, kidnappings and destruction of communities by insurgents and other criminal elements, the House of Representatives upon the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance, last week, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve his National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd) of his duties for abysmal performance.

The House equally urged the Federal Government to direct the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Army Staff to deploy Special Forces to Birnin Gwari and Giwa Federal Constituency of Kaduna State to combat bandits terrorising the people.

The House in an emotion-laden session also urged the Federal Government to set up camps for internally displaced persons and to equally provide relief materials to offer succour to victims of the attacks. The motion These resolutions were consequent upon a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Shehu Balarabe, (APC, Kaduna).

In presenting the motion, the lawmaker expressed concerns over rising activities of Bandits in Birnin Gwari and Giwa communities in the past few weeks. He said that between March 24 and 28, over 117 people were killed, 130 abducted and over 10,463 people displaced, following series of attacks launched by bandits across communities in his constituency.

The lawmaker added that countless cattle were rustled, while houses and other valuables belonging to his constituents were razed during the invasions by the bandits. He called on the Inspector General of Police and the chiefs of Army and Air Staff to mobilise more personnel to the area. Hon. Balarabe further called on the Air Force to be more proactive in responding to attacks by insurgents as its helicopter that is supposed to be for rapid response has never engaged the bandits when called. He also appealed to the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in charge of setting up and equipping Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps to help shelter the displaced citizens, especially as the rain is fast approaching. He further called on the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and other relevant agencies to assist the victims with stipends for survival.

Contributions by members

In supporting the motion, the House Majority Leader, Hon Alhassan Ado-Doguwa (APC, Kano) said: Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in the capacity of the Majority Leader, who of course is the ambassador of government on this floor. You can see how this chamber has been thrown into disquiet over the motion.

When you have a government in place, the major responsibility of that government, especially a democratic one, which was elected by the people is to ensure safety of lives and property of citizens. When things like this continue on daily basis, those of us who are representatives of the government become speechless. We become speechless here to defend actions by the government.

This is an elected government under a popular democracy but we continue day in, day out killings, massacre, armed robbery all over, left, right and centre. This is a report from just one local government out of the 774. The case of Giwa is not just a new case; he (Balarabe) is only giving us the most recent happening. Giwa has been engulfed by killings in the last two, three years.

The House majority leader wondered why Kaduna, which houses key military and defence institutions and infrastructure, had become the epicentre of killings and activities of bandits and terrorists. His words: This is Kaduna where you have the representation of the Nigerian military and other security agencies; the highest you can count in the northern part of the country.

Why should this thing continue to happen? I think government and officials of government and even the security agencies are under democratic authorities. Government in this case has to rise up to its responsibility, call a spade, a spade. If it is about funding, each of us here knows we have never had any cause to contemplate funding our security agencies. I believe our relevant committees are following up in terms of implementation of such funding through our budget and their oversight processes.

Why should things continue this way? We are here for the Nigerian people and we must speak for Nigerian people. We cannot sit down here and fold our arms; the people who elected us are being killed by the day. I think if there is any other thing, I should add to this motion, Mr. Speaker with due respect to our institutions, on account of this institutional failure, regimental failure on the part of our security agencies because you have just no cause to raise excuse. Funding is provided.

Here we are now as an institution, we have now sent an invitation, come and meet with the people of Nigeria, come and interface with us. Lets see how we can put heads together and address some of these perennial problems. At the end of the day, right from head to top; the Inspector General of Police, everyone of them sent a representative. This is a matter that is beyond a mere representative. Every commanding officer of a security agency owes Nigeria a duty to come and honour the call of the parliament.

Im not trying to preempt the actions and the good intentions of the committee set by this honourable House but security agencies have to stand up. With all sense of responsibility, I think Nigerians should at this moment be allowed to also take up arms. Ado-Doguwa expressed grave concern that Nigerians must be allowed to take up arms in defence and their hard-earned property because it is like a monumental failure. If the agencies of security have failed, then Nigerians should not be seen as failures. Let Nigerians organise themselves in the way of civil defence.

Let organise defence for their innocent souls, because, if the responsibility of the government cannot be carried out democratically, then everyone has the cause to defend himself. In his contribution, Hon. Haruna Mshelia (APC, Borno) noted that when things happen for a long time, people tend to forget. I concur with all the previous speakers, particularly our leader who spoke very well, but I want to remind the House that in Borno State, its still simmering. In fact, there is a local government call Guzamala, up till now, there is no a single soul living there.

In my constituency, which is the southern part, three communities were recently attacked, one in Igbohi ward called kilangala, where they attacked and destroyed property, another one on Gudi where the youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was killed, and in Geraha in Gida ward, where they displaced people and destroyed their property. Hitting the nail on the head, Hon.Nasiru Ali Ahmed (APC, Kano) said: I will start in sympathizing with all those who lost their lives, kidnapped or injured, in this horrible and tragic incident that happened in Kaduna.

I said it before in this chamber, from 2015 when this government came into power, how many service chiefs have we had, how many IGP have we had? Some have come and gone but only one person has not been changed up till today, and that is the National Security Adviser, what is the job of the National Security Adviser? Do we have a National Security Adviser at all? The agencies that have been mentioned, from the Army to Navy, Air Force, Police, Department of State Services, all of these agencies are accountable to National Security Adviser.

Mr. Speaker, from the interviews that I had of the people, who survived the incident, few days ago, they said, most of these criminals were between the ages the 16 and 18, with guns, Are we safe? We are saying that, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy, Air Force and police, with all the training that they have had, with the international training they have had, that a rag tag army of young boys are more powerful than them? Mr. Speaker, this madness has to stop, it simply has to stop. You travel by road, you are kidnapped; you go by train, you are kidnapped. Last week, the airport was attacked by bandits.

You sit at home you are kidnapped, you send your children to school they are kidnapped. A few weeks ago, somebody was kidnapped in the hospital, so where are you going to stay? You can be kidnapped right in this chamber, Mr. Speaker, what do we tell our people, the people who elected us, do we just fold our hands? I want to use this opportunity again to call for the resignation of the National Security Adviser; he must be removed. The call by Ahmed jolted the Deputy Speaker, Idris Ahmed Wase, who presided over the session, prompting him to appeal for understanding among his colleagues. He interjected, saying: I want to beg the House; let us not be too emotional, a lot of things are wrong. Every Nigerian in terms of the outcry of what is happening at this moment want us to step-up oversight and assignments that hav been given to us.

We should do the work diligently and report back to the House. Also expressing anger, Hon. Dachung Musa Bagos (PDP, Plateau) wondered why the promises made to Nigerians by politicians to tackle insecurity, when they were campaigning, have not been fulfilled. He called for a suspension of releases of appropriated funds to the security agencies until they can properly account for such expended funds. Hon. Ahmadu Usman Jaha (APC, Borno), in his contribution, said: In 2021, we budgeted N460 billion for the Nigerian Army alone, only N29 billion was for capital expenditure, the remaining was for recurrent expenditure.

In 2022, we budgeted N571 billion for the Nigerian Army alone, only N37 billion is capital expenditure, the remaining was for recurrent expenditure. The truth of the matter is that security in Nigeria has become a cash cow business. I am not willing to go without taking my own and he is not willing to go with taking his own and the other person is not willing to leave until when he gets his own.

Its just like a medical doctor putting professionalism aside. You presented a patient and as a patients relative you say every month Ill give you N100 million until the patient recovers or otherwise. The doctor will make sure that the patient does not die as well as continue to ensure that he does not recover because he will keep collecting the money. It is a simple analysis every person can understand. This is a cash cow business, they dont do it to finish because they will realize that everybodys attention was diverted towards the North- East, Okay, let them release North- East to some extent and go to north- West after North-West they move to South-West. Before you realise what is happening, the whole country is gutted with security challenges.

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Insecurity: When Reps moved against NSA - New Telegraph Newspaper

First Look Media laid off 20 employees on Wednesday, including five reporters from investigative news outlet The Interceptone of whom played a pivotal role in reporting on multiple scandals involving the National Security Agency.

In an email sent to all staffers on Wednesday afternoon, obtained by The Daily Beast and first reported by Axios, First Look Media CEO Michael Bloom blamed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for forcing the company to make some incredibly difficult decisions as we continue to maneuver through these unprecedented times.

Adding that the nonprofit is now entering a new phase, Bloom wrote that in order to ensure the long-term health of our organizations First Look is recalibrating our operations and unfortunately having to part ways with some of our beloved colleagues.

Founded in 2013 by eBay creator Pierre Omidyar, First Look Media houses not only The Intercept but also the Press Freedom Defense Fund, a nonprofit media support group, as well as documentary film studio Field of Vision, and for-profit content studio Topic Studio and streaming service Topic.

Blooms email and First Looks rationale for the layoffs that also impacted The Intercept didnt sit well with much of the staff, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

While The Intercept is doing some of its best reporting since its inception, time and time again the parent company appears to be floundering in bad branding and ill-advised schemes to become profitable. If just months ago Topic was hitting some key milestones, why was The Intercept put in the position to fire 5 staffers? photo editor Elise Swain told The Daily Beast.

Senior leadership was forced to make an impossible decision and we lost an excellent reporter in Alleen Brown as well as a dedicated video producer and more. Now, further staff positions arent able to be back-filled. Blooms email to the staff uses the pandemicthis act of godas a scapegoat while the real blame lies with himself, an apparently failing subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, an expensive office, and the board's demand for skulls, she added. The email from Bloom verges on offensive: Dont gaslight journalists.

While the email sent to First Look employees didnt include the names of any of those impacted by the layoffs, one staffer took to social media to announce that shed been let go.

Just got laid off from @theintercept, reporter Alleen Brown tweeted on Wednesday. I cover environmental justice, especially where it intersects with criminalization, incarceration, Indigenous affairs, labor, I could go on. DMs are open if youre hiring.

The Daily Beast has confirmed that along with Brown, other Intercept journalists that were let go include tech editor Ryan Tate, investigative researcher W. Paul Smith, documentary producer Paul Abowd, and investigative reporter Matthew Cole, the former NBC News reporter who in 2013 collaborated with Glenn Greenwald on reporting stories based on NSA subcontractor Edward Snowdens leak of highly classified documents revealing U.S. global surveillance programs. Cole continued to work on such stories after The Intercept hired him in 2015.

The layoffs were spread out across both the nonprofit and for-profit portions of the organization, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Tate, for his part, spoke highly of The Intercept when reached for comment by The Daily Beast. As someone who was there for seven plus years, since not long after the founding, Ive seen The Intercept morph and evolve repeatedly like the media startup that it is, and given how much incredible talent they still retain, and the still substantial resources they possess, I genuinely believe they are on the verge of a bright and sustainable future, he stated.

Aside from his work on the Snowden revelations, Cole was notably one of the journalists involved in The Intercepts infamous NSA bombshell that unwittingly resulted in the arrest and conviction of whistleblower Reality Winner, who provided hacked documents to the outlet.

On Wednesday night, The Intercepts union released a statement in response to the layoffs, saying they did not need to occur.

These appear to be the first company-wide layoffs since First Look shuttered access to Snowdens tranche of leaked NSA documents and let go of several researchers who maintained those documents in 2019.

First Look did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The Intercept's Parent Company First Look Lays Off 20 Staffers - The Daily Beast