Military and Police Aid
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 06:47
US troops have deployed to Iraq’s frontline western province of Anbar for the first time in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, with 50 preparing the way for a larger contingent, the Pentagon said Monday.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - 06:32
The Obama administration will not send an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq until Congress approves its $5.6 billion request to pay for the deployment, the Pentagon said Monday.
Monday, November 10, 2014 - 06:17
The mass killings of Sunni tribesmen battling the Islamic State have added urgency to Iraqi government efforts to support pockets of resistance against the insurgents. But distrust, a lack of financing and corruption threaten to slow the process, tribesmen and officials say.
Monday, November 10, 2014 - 06:13
President Barack Obama’s authorization of an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq to fight against the Islamic State more than doubles the U.S. troop presence there and will place some of those new forces in Iraq’s most restive provinces.
Monday, November 10, 2014 - 05:51
Last week, opponents of Blaise Compaore, the long-serving de facto dictator of Burkina Faso, launched a series of demonstrations that have quickly led to a new government headed by Lt. Col. Isaac Zida. While this was a somewhat softer military coup than old-fashioned ones where officers marched civilian leaders out and shot them, it was a coup nonetheless. Washington is now scrambling to make sense of it.
Friday, November 7, 2014 - 12:40
The U.S. military has begun classifying its summaries of the Afghan national security forces’ capabilities, an action which denies the public insight into their readiness as the U.S. withdraws most of its troops by year end, according to a government watchdog.
Thursday, November 6, 2014 - 07:49
Britain’s defence secretary, Michael Fallon, has promised UK troops will be sent to Iraq only as part of a limited training mission, as Amnesty International called for reassurances that British forces will not be complicit in Baghdad-backed “death squads”.
Thursday, November 6, 2014 - 06:06
The army officer who has seized power in Burkina Faso amid popular protests in the West African country was twice selected to attend counterterrorism training programs sponsored by the U.S. government, U.S. military officials said.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - 12:42
As Americans flock to the polls today, predictions increasingly favor Republicans to win the 2014-midterm elections. Although Democrats hold out hope to retain control of the Senate, the odds in Republicans’ favor encourage serious thought about how the policy choices of a Republican Senate may or may not differ from the policies of today’s Democratic Senate.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - 12:40
More than two months into the US and coalition air campaign, Obama administration officials and members of the US military’s senior leadership are confident that “Operation Inherent Resolve” is having the intended effect against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). The air strikes that began in Iraq on August 8 and the strikes that began in Syria on September 23, according to the Pentagon, are forcing Islamic State militants to adapt their battlefield tactics, disperse units into smaller and more mobile teams, and change the way it behaves as an offensive force.