Blog Posts

"Ever wonder why or how the U.S. military forgets how to do counterinsurgency and stability operations? We are witnessing the process happen in real time."

“The rise of “super militias,” which last month triggered the worst spasm of violence in the Libyan capital Tripoli in four years, has exposed the weakness of Western efforts to stabilize Libya while creating an opening for the Islamic State to resurrect itself in North Africa.”

"A 12-mile stretch of the Iraq-Syria border has become the epicentre of a battle between Iran and the United States for control of the Middle East."

"The FBI is investigating envelopes addressed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Adm. John Richardson found to contain a substance believed to be the deadly poison ricin, a defense official said Tuesday."

"Changing dynamics of violence have brought ICRC delegates closer and closer to the fighting and made their working conditions ever more dangerous. These tensions put pressure on our traditional ways of working as a neutral, independent and impartial actor."

USNI News visited the U.K. Royal Navy carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08) last week and spoke with commander Capt. Jerry Kyd on the ongoing F-35B Lightning II testing and the future of the U.K. carrier strike group. Continue on for the video.

"The U.S. has now begun training Turkish troops, marking the final step before the two countries begin conducting joint patrols likely later this month around the strategic northern Syrian city of Manbij, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday."

The United States has criticized an Iranian missile attack on purported militant targets in eastern Syria, calling it “reckless, unsafe and escalatory.” In a statement sent to VOA on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Sean Robertson said Iran took no measures to notify other military powers operating in Syria of Monday’s predawn missile strike. Unlike Iran, he said, “professional” military forces such as those of the U.S.-led coalition in Syria and of Russia deconflict their operations to ensure maximum safety.

"The Trump administration is allowing its policy to be dictated by Saudi Arabia’s rivalry with Iran."

WARSAW, Poland -- Russia is disturbing the peace, and NATO countries must combat its hybrid strategy, the alliance’s supreme allied commander for Europe said here today. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, who also commands U.S. European Command, spoke to reporters covering the NATO Military Committee meeting here, alongside Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"President Trump is reportedly considering a change of leadership at the Pentagon, perhaps after the midterm elections. He shouldn’t do it. Rather than ask Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to resign, Mr. Trump should keep him through 2020."

"The Trump administration has opened a new chapter in American involvement in Syria, vowing to remain until the civil war’s conclusion in a bid to halt Iran’s expansion across the Middle East. The vision articulated last week by senior U.S. officials marks a dramatic reversal six months after President Trump said he would pull American troops out of Syria and end U.S. involvement in a conflict that has killed at least half a million people and confounded two administrations."

The “train, advise, assist” mission allows Afghan security forces to take the fight to the enemy. They are working to give the Afghan government the security needed to provide stability. That makes the nation untenable for terrorists who want to make it a safe haven again. The answer in Afghanistan is reconciliation between the government and the Taliban. The war has continued for 17 years. NATO and coalition forces are in for the long haul, and the Taliban cannot hope to wait out the coalition. The smart option is to reconcile and rebuild Afghanistan together.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the United States has ordered a temporary relocation of diplomatic personnel in Iraq because of growing threats to U.S. diplomatic facilities by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and its allied militias in Iraq. In a written statement Pompeo said, “Given the increasing and specific threats and incitement to attack our personnel and facilities in Iraq, I have directed that an appropriate temporary relocation of diplomatic personnel in Iraq take place.”

"As the United States and the Taliban attempt direct talks in hopes of ending the 17-year Afghan War, analysts say the Taliban’s control over large parts of the country has emboldened them to ask a high price for their cooperation. Any talks now are in the preliminary stages, but interviews with former militants and researchers, along with dispatches from unofficial peace conferences, provide insight into what the Taliban, the Kabul government and the U.S. will ask for during negotiations."

"Deadly violence has resurfaced in parts of the long-restive southern Philippines despite an autonomy-sharing deal with local Muslim groups, and authorities are eyeing terrorism by political factions excluded from the deal."

"The State Department will close the U.S. consulate in Basra, Iraq, and evacuate the diplomats stationed there, citing security risks from Iran, according to administration officials. The U.S. post in the southern Iraqi city, one of three U.S. diplomatic missions in the country, will be shuttered following mounting, credible threats from Iranian and Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, a senior administration official said."

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Moscow had started delivering the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria and warned Western powers of trying to undermine U.N.-led efforts to end the seven-year conflict."

“The botched bombing last month of a Yemeni school bus by a Saudi-led military coalition has ignited a new debate in the Trump administration about how much military support the U.S. should provide its Gulf allies in the three-year-old conflict.”

“This week’s gathering of the annual United Nations General Assembly was dominated by President Trump. He emphasized his ‘America First’ vision in his speech to the assembly and at a rambling news conference the next day. In smaller meetings, he touched on global issues that continue to vex the United States and other nations.”

"So now comes Erik Prince, the man everyone loves to hate, with a plan to privatize and streamline the tasks now being performed by about 14,000 American and 8,000 NATO troops and over 26,000 contractors."

“The United States has accepted more than 70,000 SIV recipients, including the spouses and children of those who aided the US war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. But as part of new immigration and refugee restrictions under President Trump, the program’s admissions have plunged by almost half in the past two years.”

"Has the changing nature of warfare made UN peacekeeping outdated, and can it be adapted to suit the conditions of contemporary warfare?"

"U.S. threats to cut aid to Pakistan for its support of the Taliban have not led to any significant changes in Islamabad’s relations with insurgents who seek to overthrow the American-backed Afghan government, the State Department said in a report."

"House lawmakers on Wednesday grilled Pentagon officials on President Donald Trump’s overall goals for Syria, expressing confusion about the role of American troops in the war-torn country where Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said their mission is solely to stamp out the Islamic State."