Resources - News

This section includes the latest news relating to U.S. security policy around the world. Updated daily, the news provided in this searchable database highlights the most relevant security developments from around the world. 

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Senate panel slashes military aid to Egypt

Wednesday, September 6, 2017
The article states that the Senate's foreign aid spending panel voted to slash military assistance to Egypt by $300 million amid growing congressional frustration with the country's dismal human rights record under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Country(s): 
Egypt
Author(s): 
Bryant Harris
Publisher / Source: 
Al Monitor
Tag(s): 
Security Assistance

U.S. Gives Military Assistance to Pakistan, With Strings Attached

Wednesday, August 30, 2017
The article discusses the Trump administration's decision to put $225M in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighboring Afghanistan.
Country(s): 
Pakistan
Author(s): 
Gardiner Harris
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Military and Police Aid

Playing the Long Game - U.S. Counterterrorism Assistance for Lebanon

Wednesday, August 30, 2017
During the last week of August 2017, the Lebanese government completed its largest counterterrorism operation in years, pushing Islamic State (IS) militants from the group’s stronghold along the Lebanese border with Syria. As many as 7,000 soldiers from the Lebanese army and special operations forces took part.1 The offensive underscored Lebanon’s contribution to the global counter-IS coalition and the key role that its military and security services have played in blocking the expansion of Sunni militant groups in the region. English
Country(s): 
Lebanon
Author(s): 
Hardin Lang
Alia Awadallah
Publisher / Source: 
Center for American Progress
Tag(s): 
Lebanese Armed Forces

U.S.-trained militaries more likely to overthrow their governments

Wednesday, August 30, 2017
This article cites Security Assistance Monitor as a "helpful resource" for researchers who are seeking more information on military spending.
Author(s): 
David Trilling
Publisher / Source: 
Journalist's Resource
Tag(s): 
Military

How to Improve Return on Investment for Security Assistance

Sunday, August 27, 2017
This essay cites an article using SAM's security assistance data to argue that the United States should reverse its traditional approach on counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and U.S. foreign policy.
Country(s): 
Pakistan
Author(s): 
Stephen Tankel
Melissa G. Dalton
Publisher / Source: 
Lawfare
Tag(s): 
Foreign Aid
Security Assistance

Commander: US-led assault in Iraq ‘incidentally’ benefits Iran-backed militias

Saturday, August 26, 2017
WASHINGTON — A top commander of the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria has publicly acknowledged that Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces — a loose alliance of Iranian-backed Shiite militias — are “incidentally” benefiting from the extensive support provided to Iraqi security forces under the control of Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Rupert Jones, deputy commander of the Combined Joint Task Force for Operation Inherent Resolve, noted that throughout the battle for Mosul, Iraq, and up until last week, the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, were not deployed as an integral part of those Iraqi security forces directly supported by coalition operations. But with the Aug. 20 launch of the offensive on Tal Afar, the PMF is operating in the same sector alongside three Iraqi divisions, Iraq’s counterterrorism service, police units and the country’s emergency response division to liberate Tal Afar and the remainder of Nineveh province from ISIS.
Country(s): 
Iraq
Author(s): 
Barbara Opall-Rome
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
Security

Jim Mattis, in Ukraine, Says U.S. Is Thinking of Sending Weapons

Thursday, August 24, 2017
KIEV, Ukraine — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis vowed on Thursday to help Ukraine stand up to Russian violations of its sovereignty and signaled that the Trump administration was considering providing defensive weapons to the Ukrainian military. President Barack Obama had resisted such a step, fearing it would be seen as a provocation by Russia. In the first visit to Ukraine by an American defense secretary in nearly a decade, Mr. Mattis seemed to be anticipating that argument.
Country(s): 
Ukraine
Author(s): 
Michael R. Gordon
Publisher / Source: 
The New York Times
Tag(s): 
Security Assistance

Exclusive: U.S. to withhold up to $290 million in Egypt aid

Tuesday, August 22, 2017
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has decided to deny Egypt $95.7 million in aid and to delay a further $195 million because of its failure to make progress on respecting human rights and democratic norms, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The decision reflects a U.S. desire to continue security cooperation as well as frustration with Cairo’s stance on civil liberties, notably a new law that regulates non-governmental organizations that is widely seen as part a growing crackdown on dissent, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. English
Country(s): 
Egypt
Author(s): 
Arshad Mohammed
Warren Strobel
Publisher / Source: 
Reuters
Tag(s): 
Foreign Aid

Trump Afghanistan strategy calls for more troops, regional pressure

Tuesday, August 22, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced a new plan for Afghanistan Monday night with calls for additional U.S. forces, greater NATO participation and regional pressure that held echoes of the previous administrations even as the president said his way forward would be a much more aggressive plan that delivers results. “Nearly 16 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the American people are weary of war without victory,” Trump told a largely military audience at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia. Trump said he was initially inclined to withdraw all forces. As he said on the campaign trail, he still feels that the U.S. had spent too much time, energy and money trying to rebuild Afghanistan, like Iraq, to resemble American governance.
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Author(s): 
Aaron Mehta
Tara Copp
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
Afghanistan

America's permanent export emergency - For 23 years, presidents have had to use emergency powers to control risky national-security technologies. Trump just became the latest. Will Congress ever fix it?

Tuesday, August 22, 2017
In 1994, with trade fights raging over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization, the White House faced an urgent problem: It was about to lose most of its power to block exports for national security reasons. The decades-old law governing so-called export controls was about to expire, and Congress was making no move to renew it. So the Clinton administration took matters into its own hands: It declared a national emergency, extending its export-control powers without any new legislation. Twenty-three years and three administrations later, that national emergency still stands. Last week, entirely unremarked in the aftermath of Charlottesville, President Donald Trump extended the emergency yet again, signing a 134-word presidential notice that allows the federal government to control the export of almost every U.S. product.
Author(s): 
Danny Vinik
Publisher / Source: 
Politico
Tag(s): 
National Security

The Truth About the War in Ukraine

Monday, August 14, 2017
This commentary by a former U.S. special operations pilot explores combat operations in Ukraine and why sending U.S. lethal weapons would be a largely symbolic gesture that would send a strong message to Moscow.
Country(s): 
Ukraine
Author(s): 
Nolan Peterson
Publisher / Source: 
The Daily Signal
Tag(s): 
War

With Mira Ricardel in place, it’s time to complete export control reforms

Monday, August 14, 2017
The blog discusses how the Senate’s confirmation of Mira Ricardel as Undersecretary of Commerce for Export Administration allows the Trump administration to work on completing much needed, and long overdue, export control reforms.
Author(s): 
Lawrence G. Keane
Publisher / Source: 
The Hill
Tag(s): 
Commerce

Hezbollah Sucks the U.S. Into Its Own War on ISIS

Friday, August 11, 2017
This piece discusses the Pentagon’s claims that it’s absolutely opposed to cooperation with terrorist-branded Hezbollah, but Hezbollah’s leader says the facts on the ground speak for themselves.
Country(s): 
Lebanon
Author(s): 
Alex Rowell
Publisher / Source: 
The Daily Beast
Tag(s): 
Security

Afghanistan Security: U.S.-Funded Equipment for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces

Thursday, August 10, 2017
In accordance with provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017, this GAO report reviews weapon systems and equipment funded by the Defense (DOD) and State Departments for the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police—collectively known as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). Since fiscal year 2002, more than $76 billion has been appropriated or allocated for various DOD and State programs to support Afghan security, and DOD has disbursed almost $18 billion for equipment and transportation.English
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Author(s): 
Mac Thornberry
Adam Smith
Publisher / Source: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Tag(s): 
Afghan National Defense and Security Forces

Can the Pentagon Win When Putsch Comes to Shove? A Rare Pentagon “Success” Story

Thursday, August 10, 2017
The article cites multiple reports using SAM’s data on U.S. programs that train foreign forces and discusses controversial issues surrounding these programs, including the likelihood that foreign military personnel trained by the U.S. are involved in coup attempts or human rights abuses.
Author(s): 
Nick Turse
Publisher / Source: 
Tom Dispatch
Tag(s): 
Foreign Aid

McCain offers Afghanistan strategy amid Trump’s indecision

Thursday, August 10, 2017
The article states that Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain is offering a civil-military strategy for Afghanistan that adds more U.S. counterterror troops and more pressure on Pakistan to not provide sanctuary to the Taliban and Haqqani network.
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Author(s): 
Joe Gould
Publisher / Source: 
Defense News
Tag(s): 
Counterterrorism

Erik Prince’s Private Air Force in Afghanistan Faces Many Legal Hurdles

Monday, August 7, 2017
SAM Director Colby Goodman is quoted in this article that examines Erik Prince’s proposal to bridge the Afghanistan air force’s capability gaps with his own private air force and the broader issue of private military companies operating in roles typically in the purview of nation states.
Author(s): 
Shawn Snow
Publisher / Source: 
Military Times
Tag(s): 
Afghanistan

The DoD is Turning Up the Heat on Al Qaeda in Yemen

Monday, August 7, 2017
The article states that a “small number” of U.S. military personnel are assisting thousands of Yemeni government troops in a major offensive to expel militants associated with the country’s Al Qaeda offshoot from their de-facto capital.
Country(s): 
Yemen
Author(s): 
Jared Keller
Publisher / Source: 
Task & Purpose
Tag(s): 
Security Assistance

U.S. Reportedly Mulls Sending Antitank Missiles to Ukraine. It May Be Two Years Too Late.

Thursday, August 3, 2017
This article discusses a push by both Defense and State Department officials to arm Ukrainian troops with lethal aid to counter Russian-backed separatists fighting for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.English
Country(s): 
Ukraine
Author(s): 
Alex Horton
Publisher / Source: 
The Washington Post
Tag(s): 
Military Equipment

Blackwater Founder Wants to Boost the Afghan Air War with His Private Air Force

Thursday, August 3, 2017
This article covers Erik Prince's proposal to the Afghan government to provide air support through his company, Frontier Services Group. English
Country(s): 
Afghanistan
Author(s): 
Shawn Snow
Mackenzie Wolf
Publisher / Source: 
Military Times
Tag(s): 
Afghanistan

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