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“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” — Desmond Tutu

🇺🇸🇷🇼🇨🇩 Weeks after Tim Kennedy was shot three times in eastern Congo... Washington sanctioned the army he was fighting Treasury hit Rwanda’s Ministry of Defense for deploying thousands of troops alongside the M23 rebels in North and South Kivu, and Zigama Credit and Savings Society for moving the money that buys their weapons and launders the gold that comes out of rebel-held mines into Rwanda. That is the same war Erik Prince’s contractors are in on the Congolese side, under a contract to secure and tax the mining areas Washington wants American companies in, and the September ambush that wounded Kennedy and killed a former New Zealand commando happened on one of those mining-revenue operations. The sanctions put the US government where Prince already was: on Tshisekedi’s side against Kigali, which was Washington’s Africa partner until the minerals deal made Congo worth more. Rwanda now has a choice between pulling its troops out of the Kivus or watching its defense ministry get cut off from dollars, and M23 has to decide whether to keep fighting with its bank frozen. Source: Reuters, New York Times / Writer: Daniel

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 Six days before the Iran strike window opens, Hegseth fired the general in charge of planning it The Pentagon's chief planner on the Joint Staff, a three-star who commanded the 101st Airborne and carries six Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart, was pushed out this week with no explanation and no replacement named, the second man forced out of that job in a year. Officials told The Atlantic Hegseth lost confidence in him and he didn't get on with policy chief Elbridge Colby. He's at least the fifth general removed this year and one of 26 generals and admirals gone since Hegseth arrived, after the Army chief of staff was fired at the height of the spring strikes while his service was supposed to be restocking the interceptors now in short supply. One more detail: X users noticed that the general's son, a FEMA analyst, had written something offensive after Charlie Kirk's killing, named the father, and told Hegseth to "review" his employment. The son was put on leave then; the father is out now. Whatever the reason, the job he held is the link between CENTCOM's strike options, Pentagon policy and the White House, and it's empty the week Trump decides between a deal and a week of bombing. Source: The Atlantic / Writer: Daniel