Defense One
Thursday, January 21, 2016 - 06:30
Five months after Iraq began flying its F-16 fighter jets against ISIS, the Obama administration has approved a $2 billion cache of guided bombs and missiles that will make them far deadlier.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 - 06:42
The attacks in Burkina Faso that left 28 people dead and 55 injured point to an increasing security challenge in West Africa, where, analysts say, militant groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State are taking advantage of fragile and weak states to hit western targets. This is the second time in a couple of months that militants launched an assaulted directed at an establishment popular with foreigners. In neighboring Mali last November, in a similar fashion to what happened at the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou, gunmen stormed the Radisson Hotel in Bamako and took 170 people hostage and ultimately killing 21 people many of whom westerners.
Thursday, January 14, 2016 - 06:53
Buhari has hung his presidency on overcoming two apparently intractable threats to his nation: Boko Haram and the epic corruption that saps the foundations of Nigerian government and society. Yet he has failed to make the connection between the two. Doing so would buttress both efforts, and given their arguably slim chances of success, he can hardly afford to pass up the mutual reinforcement.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - 07:06
If we truly intend to professionalize a foreign military force in support of a legitimate local government, it could take a long time, even decades, as it did in the Republic of Korea and Germany.
Friday, December 4, 2015 - 06:29
By raw value, the $45.8 billion in U.S. arms sales approved in the past 16 months for countries battling the Islamic State and other militants is just a bit more than the $43 billion approved for the same countries over the same duration before coalition airstrikes began. But the kinds of weapons going to those countries — Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and others — have shifted dramatically.
Thursday, November 19, 2015 - 06:12
While Boko Haram swept across the country, a former national security adviser awarded 'phantom contracts' to buy 12 helicopters, four fighter jets, bombs that were never supplied.
Thursday, November 12, 2015 - 06:51
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has given the DOD 48 hours to turn over its files on a controversial task force that may have misspent millions in Afghanistan.
Thursday, November 5, 2015 - 06:52
Evelyn Farkas, who stepped down last week as the Pentagon’s top policy official for Russia and Ukraine, says the U.S. should open a military base in Eastern Europe to send a message to Vladimir Putin.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 - 06:50
The commander of U.S. special operators in Africa also says African warlord Joseph Kony is on the run — but he needs more authority from Congress to broaden the U.S. military’s mission in Africa.
Monday, October 26, 2015 - 05:59
An American soldier has died in Iraq as a result of the U.S. intervention to support Iraqi forces fighting the Islamic State. It’s the first loss of an American service member since the fight against ISIS began, and the first combat death in Iraq since 2011.