[ransomnote]

Afghan 'insider attack' kills two US soldiers in Kandahar

Two US service members have been killed by an Afghan soldier in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan, local police say.

The soldier opened fire on the Americans in Shawalikot district, Kandahar, the office of the province's police chief confirmed to the BBC.

US officials have only confirmed that two soldiers were killed on Monday.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan by 2020.

A news release by Nato stated only that the soldiers had been killed, and that in accordance with department of defence policy, their names would not be released until 24 hours after the soldiers' families had been notified

[ransomnote]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/trump-tweets-elijah-cummings-impeachment-democrats/594970/ 

Trump’s Twitter Attacks Are Backfiring 
President Trump seems eager to divert attention from impeachment and investigations, but distractions work only if they distract. 
11:39 AM ET 
David A. Graham 

snip// 

There are several reasons to question the efficacy of Trump’s distraction here. The first is that it means that a piece of good news for the president Friday afternoon, a Supreme Court decision that allows the Trump administration to begin work on a wall on the southern border while litigation continues, has been largely overlooked. 

A second is the same as the point that I and many others made after Trump’s attack on the squad: Exploiting racial tension has been a successful strategy for Trump and many other politicians, but open racism is, in addition to its moral repugnance, a risky electoral ploy. 

Third, and perhaps most important, a distraction works only if it distracts. Trump has successfully turned the conversation to his tweets about Cummings, but he has not turned it away from impeachment. In fact, he’s deepened his problems: As of yesterday, 107 House Democrats back an impeachment inquiry, up from the mid-90s last week. That’s almost half the caucus. Non–House members, including Patty Murray, a top Senate Democrat, have also voiced support.