Blog Posts

A negotiated political agreement among Afghans is the best path to a peaceful government in their country, Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper said during a visit to Afghanistan's capital of Kabul.

Fears that Turkey’s offensive in northeastern Syria allowed untold numbers of captured Islamic State terror group fighters to escape may be overblown, according to U.S. officials.

"President Vladimir Putin’s new pact with Turkey expands Moscow’s role as a power broker in the Middle East, again showing his skill at building up Russia’s sway while weakening U.S. influence."

President Donald Trump announced the U.S. will be lifting sanctions on Turkey, saying he has been informed by Ankara that its ceasefire in an offensive against Kurds in northeastern Syria will be permanent.

"The Turkish incursion into Syria and the US retreat have huge implications for both Syria itself and the region at large. Some of the impact is immediate and some potentially long-term."

"The US Army’s Mosul Study Group released a report—What the Battle of Mosul Teaches the Force—in September 2017, a mere month and a half after the Islamic State was ejected from the city. The report purported to provide lessons derived from the battle. However, the short time that passed between the end of the battle and the report’s publication raises questions about the report and the group’s research methods."

Turkey's incursion into northeastern Syria appears to be giving Islamic State new life, but U.S. counterterrorism officials caution the terror group's next moves are far from certain.

"Russian forces have begun to deploy towards the Turkey-Syria border, as part of deal to remove Kurdish troops. Units were seen crossing the Euphrates and heading towards the city of Kobane."

"The rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from northeast Syria, which included U.S. forces bombing their own equipment at the bases they hastily left behind, is a vivid example of how the U.S. military is being forced to cope with national security and foreign policy decisions announced at the speed of a tweet."

"Russia agreed to help Turkey drive out Kurdish militias from a “safe zone” in northeastern Syria, highlighting Moscow’s flourishing ties with a NATO member and a rebalance of power in war-torn Syria as U.S. troops leave."

"Russia and Turkey reached an agreement Tuesday that would cement their power in Syria, deploying their forces across nearly its entire northeastern border to fill the void left by President Donald Trump's abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces."

"A fresh round of intra-Afghan peace talks will be held in China next week, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Tuesday, raising hopes for renewed negotiations, even as violence surges in Afghanistan's 18-year war."

"Defense Secretary Mark Esper met Tuesday with the king of Saudi Arabia during a tour of the kingdom’s military facilities as the U.S. pursues its biggest Middle East troop buildup of the Trump administration."

"President Donald Trump has made several incorrect or misleading statements about the five-year battle against the Islamic State group as he seeks to end what he calls "endless wars" and explain an abrupt abandonment of America's Kurdish partners in the face of a Turkish offensive."

Cities and towns along the border in northeastern Syria evacuated in the final hours of their cease-fire with Turkey on Tuesday.

"The leaders of Russia and Turkey announced an agreement Turkey for their two countries’ forces to jointly patrol almost the entire northeastern Syrian border after the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters. The deal would seal the two countries’ power in Syria, filling the void left by departing American troops after President Donald Trump abruptly ordered their withdrawal."

"U.S. troops leaving Syria and heading to neighboring Iraq do not have permission to stay in the country, Iraq’s military said Tuesday as American forces continued to pull out of northern Syria after Turkey’s invasion of the border region."

The United States is keeping some troops near oil fields in northeastern Syria to protect them from being captured by Islamic State, defense chief Mark Esper said Monday.

"Turkey’s president is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in talks crucial to the outcome of Turkey’s latest incursion into northern Syria, and to the broader Syrian war."

"Preserving the Syrian Democratic Forces is key to preventing an Islamic State resurgence after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, according to the former special envoy to the counter-ISIS coalition."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ramping up pressure on his Western allies, as the end of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire approaches with Syrian Kurdish rebels. Erdogan's escalating rhetoric comes ahead of a pivotal meeting Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"... the U.S. partnership with the SDF has been a success story beyond all expectation. Due largely to the SDF’s efforts, the U.S. was able to expunge the physical caliphate from Syria at an incredibly low cost in casualties, and — until two weeks ago — maintain a tenuous stability along the border region with Turkey. At every step the SDF has aligned their actions with U.S. objectives by avoiding where possible confrontation with either the Syrian Regime or Turkey, and by advancing on Raqqa, at a time when their own rear lines were threatened by both armies."

The top American commander in Afghanistan revealed Monday the size of U.S. troop force in the country has quietly been reduced by 2,000 over the last year, insisting remaining military personnel are still capable of reaching their stated objectives.

"Civilians in Kurdish areas hurled rotten fruit and insults at a convoy of U.S. military vehicles that crossed from northern Syria into Iraq early Monday, marking a dramatic drawdown to an American presence in Syria to combat Islamic State."

"A convoy of US troops and equipment departed northeast Syria today, a spokesman for the US-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS) said, further winnowing the American presence in the war-torn country as a White House-brokered cease-fire appeared to be on shaky ground."