Blog Posts

"A cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas was holding Tuesday night, but tough talk from both sides indicate hostilities could erupt again at any time. Egypt brokered the cease-fire after two days of the worst fighting in Gaza since the 2014 war."

"The Marine Corps is reeling from a shortage of its professional marksmen — and it’s one that could impact the Corps’ ability to fight and navigate in future dense urban environments."

"The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are returning to the battle against the Islamic State following a pause to deal with clashes between their northern troops and Turkey, which included cross-border shelling by Turkish forces."

Via Yahoo News - "For 25 years, a small Army office known as the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute has played an outsize role in preparing military personnel and civilians to work in regions recovering from war. But with President Trump’s administration pushing back on such operations, the Army’s top civilian leader has proposed shutting the institute down."

Via Yahoo News - "Even as the humanitarian crisis precipitated by Saudi Arabia’s more-than-three-year war in Yemen has deepened, the Pentagon earlier this year launched a new classified operation to support the kingdom’s military operations there, according to a Defense Department document that appears to have been posted online inadvertently."

President Ashraf Ghani said his administration is intent on seeking a negotiated peace with the The president of Afghanistan told a U.S. audience Monday that his country is not losing the war to the Taliban and is not at risk of collapse. Ghani also voiced confidence Monday on reaching a peace deal to end the Taliban insurgency - but warned Pakistan's alleged meddling risked sparking long-term hostility.

"The Trump administration is discussing whether to press the Afghan government to suspend coming presidential elections, according to people briefed on the discussions, as the U.S. seeks to engage the Taliban in talks to end the 17-year war."

"A new round of hostilities triggered by a botched Israeli covert operation in the Gaza Strip pushed the territory’s fragile security situation to the brink on Monday, as Palestinian militants launched hundreds of rockets toward Israel and Israeli jets carried out bombing raids."

Leading international human rights group Amnesty International said Monday it is stripping Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of its top honor over her failure to speak out or halt grave atrocities against her country’s Rohingya Muslim population.

One pickup truck after another arrived at the government compound in a district capital in Afghanistan on Sunday, pulling around to the back of the governor’s office to unload the dead, out of sight of panicked residents. Soldiers and police officers, many in tears, heaved bodies of their comrades from the trucks and laid them on sheets on the ground, side by side on their backs, until there were 20 of them.

Foreign fighters believed to be galvanising local groups as push to declare Islamic caliphate intensifies. The threat of Islamic State is mounting again in the Philippines, with estimates there could be between 40 to 100 foreign fighters, and a growing momentum among local pro-Islamic State militant groups.

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters resumed their ground offensive Sunday against the Islamic State group in the last territories controlled by the extremists in eastern Syria.

Fighting has broken out in the streets of Yemen's key port Hodeidah between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition forces. A pro-Yemeni military official said Sunday the forces aim to "purge" the city of the rebels, who control the port, where nearly all food, medicine, and other supplies for civilians are delivered.

The U.S. military says American and Iraqi forces killed more than 50 Islamic State militants, including several commanders, in northern Iraq last month.

World leaders with the power to make war but a duty to preserve peace solemnly marked the end of World War I’s slaughter 100 years ago at commemorations Sunday that drove home the message “never again” but also exposed the globe’s new political fault lines.

“The words ‘welcome home’ can be so ordinary. But to the thousands of Iraqi and Afghan interpreters who risk their lives – and the lives of their families – to serve alongside U.S. troops in their countries and help us secure victory, those words mean safety, a life free of death threats, and a promise kept.”

"Top Obama administration officials have drafted a letter acknowledging their responsibility for initiating U.S. involvement in Yemen’s destructive civil war and calling for the Trump administration to halt America’s role in the conflict."

"The decision by the United States to stop refueling warplanes of a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen was welcomed by Yemeni rebel officials, human rights activists and aid workers on Saturday. It also sent a strong signal, they said, about Washington’s increasing unease over airstrikes by its closest Middle East allies that have killed thousands of civilians in Yemen."

Via SOF News - Congressional Research Service Report on Afghanistan – November 2018 - An updated CRS report on Afghanistan has been posted. The 18-page report (R45122) published on November 1, 2018 provides an overview of the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and the US policy on Afghanistan.

"A COIN Learning Center could be a wise and cost-effective hedge against an uncertain future."

"Russia convened Taliban officials, Afghan government envoys and representatives from seven nations for talks aimed at catalyzing an end to a 17-year war and burnishing Moscow’s credentials as a regional power broker."

“The Trump administration is ending the practice of refueling Saudi-coalition aircraft, halting the most tangible and controversial aspect of U.S. support for the kingdom’s three-year war in Yemen, people familiar with the situation said.”

“A Saudi-led coalition and its allies have intensified attacks on a key Yemeni port city to improve their position ahead of peace talks, posing a potential obstacle for U.S. attempts to end Yemen’s war.”

"The changes needed to decrease the destructive nature of military operations to reclaim an occupied city will not be small. Without these changes, we can expect to have to destroy cities to save them."

“An anti-corruption program once seen as a beacon of hope in Afghanistan is failing to accomplish much, according to U.S. officials who say the nation’s top prosecutor is corrupt.”