Open-air waste disposal pits (burn pits) dotted Afghanistan and Iraq during those long wars. Those conflicts are over now, but the private military contractors who lived and worked near these burn pits still suffer serious ill effects, some of which are outlined below. In most cases, burn pit-related illnesses are debilitating or fatal. The DoD reasoned that, since burn pits …
American Officials Add Cuba to the Naughty List
In January 2025, incoming President Donald Trump reversed a Biden-era policy and placed Cuba on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel calls Trump’s move “arrogant” and a setback for the Cuban people. However, Díaz-Canel said Cuba would endure and ultimately thrive despite the renewed U.S. pressure. For several decades, Cuba has faced economic hardship due …
Crisis Continues in Afghanistan
One of Donald Trump’s first executive orders in his new administration prevented family members of American servicemembers in Afghanistan from emigrating to America. An estimated 200 family members of U.S. troops are in Afghanistan and attempting to flee the Taliban through the U.S. Refugees Admissions Program, or USRAP, said Shawn Vandiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization that helps Afghan allies …
Officials Issue Kuwait Travel Notice
Increased risk of terrorism, specifically against military bases, should make people think twice before they travel to this once-quiet Gulf Coast Country, according to a January 2025 alert from the government of Australia. Conflicts in the Middle East could result in an increase in tensions elsewhere in the region and may result in airspace closures, flight cancellations, and other travel …
American Security Contractors Head to Gaza
Safe Reach Solutions and several other American private military contractor companies will enforce a ceasefire in part of the war-torn area. The contractors are poised to help secure a key zone that splits Gaza in two and is known as the Netzarim corridor, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak …