The Cambridge City Council earlier this month rejected a policy order on police demilitarization proposed by Councilor Quinton Y. Zondervan that sparked bitter debate among both activists and politicians in Cambridge.
Zondervan, who chairs the councilâs public safety committee, proposed a policy order that called for the âdestruction and recyclingâ of all rifles and shotguns, and the âeliminationâ of Cambridge Police Departmentâs Lenco BearCat â a $350,000 armored vehicle which the Department acquired through a Department of Homeland Security grant.
CPD previously faced backlash for its possession of military-grade equipment, which came to light after the department supplied the city with an inventory of its possessions in 2020 following Commissioner Branville G. Bard, Jr.âs statement that CPD did not possess military equipment. Bard later clarified, however, that he meant the department âdid not possess materials that are only restricte
For Afghanistan veterans, old feelings of frustration and loss surface as the US prepares to end its longest war Published 3 hours ago
Spc. Dallas Purdy from Hockley, Texas, hangs a message of support from friends Ashley and Katie Daniels while serving with the 1-320th Alpha Battery, 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division at COP Nolen, in the volatile Arghandab Valley, Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
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Print article As the U.S. military shut down scores of remote outposts and patrol bases across southern Afghanistan 10 years ago, the Taliban planted a white flag on a former U.S. position that had been bulldozed, claiming the turf as its own and taunting the withdrawing Americans.
More than 800,000 people served in Afghanistan in the U.S. military, and many of them are reflecting anew on what the war achieved and the meaning of their individual parts in it. […] The planned departure has evoked a range of emotions among veterans of the conflict. Some felt withdrawal was inevitable, the frustrating result of repeated mistakes and missed opportunities. The rebuilding of Afghanistan and the establishment of good governance seem as distant as ever. So does the end of violence.
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“I think for the people who fought on D-Day, it was probably nice for those who survived to go on vacation in France 30 years later and see what they were looking at,” said Loren Crowe, who deployed to Afghanistan twice as an Army infantry officer. “We’re not going to get that, and that’s fine.
Power Up: Biden goes it alone on Afghanistan Jacqueline Alemany
thanks for waking up with us. : Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Afghanistan on Thursday for meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, who is heading up negotiations with the Taliban, to reassure them that Washington’s support for the war-torn country will continue despite the U.S. decision to withdraw all military forces by Sept. 11, our colleague John Hudson, who is traveling with Blinken, reports. “Ghani and his advisers met Blinken and his aides at Kabul’s ornate presidential palace. At the top of the meeting, Ghani told Blinken, ‘We respect [President Biden’s] decision and are adjusting our priorities.’”