Military and Police Aid
Friday, November 21, 2014 - 06:18
The Pentagon said Thursday that it would begin deploying 1,500 new troops to Iraq "in the next weeks" without first securing funding from Congress, reversing previous comments.
Thursday, November 20, 2014 - 06:26
The Pentagon has shared with Congress new details about its plan to train and equip vetted members of the Syrian opposition to fight the Islamic State in hopes of finally securing funding for the effort.
With an initial tranche of $225 million, the Defense Department aims to train the first classes of Syrian rebels, each of which will have 300 fighters, according to a reprogramming request signed by the Pentagon's chief financial officer, Mike McCord.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 - 06:40
The United States will train fighters from the Syrian moderate opposition in Turkey, the Department of Defense said Monday. According to a report this weekend in the Istanbul-based Hurriyet Daily News, military officials from both countries agreed that the U.S. would begin training and equipping 2,000 Free Syrian Army fighters at a training center in central Turkey in late December.
Monday, November 17, 2014 - 06:18
American forces have begun advising Iraqi troops in the western Anbar province, the top U.S. general told Reuters, in a faster-than-expected expansion of an operation that is central to its campaign against Islamic State.
Monday, November 17, 2014 - 06:15
U.S. defense officials say they are taking steps to more quickly boost the capabilities of Iraqi security forces to counter Islamic State militants, including using American troops already in Iraq to open new training bases.
Monday, November 17, 2014 - 06:13
The Obama administration has been weighing plans to escalate the CIA’s role in arming and training fighters in Syria, a move aimed at accelerating covert U.S. support to moderate rebel factions while the Pentagon is preparing to establish its own training bases, U.S. officials said.
Friday, November 14, 2014 - 06:31
The Obama administration has asked Congress repeatedly to exempt its military effort against the Islamic State from a longstanding ban on U.S. assistance to torturers and war criminals, highlighting doubts about finding "clean" American allies in a region wracked by ethnic animosity and religious extremism.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - 06:46
On Monday, the Pentagon announced that a team of about 50 American troops had been deployed to Iraq's Anbar province. According to Reuters, the group was stationed at al-Asad air base, where they are preparing for an advisory mission in the fight against the Islamic State extremist group and their allies in the region.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - 06:09
As the U.S. military winds down its role in Afghanistan, the U.S. commander there, Gen. John Campbell, says Afghan forces have improved enough to handle the Taliban forces that are still waging war.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 06:56
Behind the jokes, however, is the deadly serious responsibility of the CIA and Defense Department to vet Syrians before they receive covert American training, aid and arms. But according to U.S. counterterrorism veterans, a system that worked pretty well during four decades of the Cold War has been no match for the linguistic, cultural, tribal and political complexities of the Middle East, especially now in Syria.