“What good is having the best fighting forces in the world if the U.S. Army loses the ability to employ them?”

“President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated with his advisers tasked with crafting a new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.”

“The U.S. should not stay in Afghanistan without considering risks and liabilities, or out of sheer strategic momentum.”

"The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has reported difficulty in identifying whether a $457.7 million program was successful due to a lack of accountability methods....

The Secretary decided to stick with an in-house solution, that is to say, more of the same, for a war we are, in his words, “not winning”.

What does a president who campaigned on an "America First" foreign policy do with the longest war in U.S. history? That is the dilemma as the White House conducts a policy review of...

“This report investigates humanitarian and stabilization needs in Iraq, through a case study of Mosul, and offers recommendations for immediate actions for stabilization.”

“Kelly is a tough talking Bostonian who spent 45 years in the Marines and is ideally suited to confront the challenges he’ll face.”

“Milley devoted the bulk of his speech to the global security issues that he and the rest of the U.S. military leadership spend the most time fretting about.”

“Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley wants the American public to stop fooling itself when it comes to war.”

The growing military presence raises significant strategic and tactical questions among civilian policymakers at the National Security Council and State Department.

“A road map of three dangers ahead, drawn from conversations with a half-dozen CIA veterans.”

Continue on for a DoD update on operations in Iraq and Syria.

“FM 3-24 argues that excessive civilian casualties will cripple counterinsurgency operations, possibly to the point of failure.”

“Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has ordered a review of all the administrative and training requirements.”

“Three years after falling under ISIS control, a photographer shows a now-freed Mosul in ruins.”

“The Taliban have received improved weaponry in Afghanistan that appears to have been supplied by the Russian government.”

“Cavalier or casually acquiescent decisions to spend taxpayer dollars in an ineffective and wasteful manner are not to recur.”

“Cooperation with Russia is becoming a central part of the Trump administration’s counter-Islamic State strategy in Syria.”

Continue on for a link to all the presentations and panel discussions at this year’s Aspen Security Forum.

No video, just audio to jump-start your Monday morning.

“Trump administration officials consistently point back to the Obama administration’s failed Syria policy to justify their approach.”

“Soon after its founding in 2014, ISIS-K descended into the Achin district and established it as its stronghold.”

“Technological advancement could produce ocean-spanning consumer UAVs. But extremists won’t necessarily bother with them.”

Continue on for the arm patch ID lineup.

“The aim is to build a counterinsurgency force able to support troops fighting in remote and forbidding terrain with air strikes, supplies and intelligence.”

“Yet to be memorialized are the estimated 7,000 men and women who have died in the longest conflict in the country’s history.”

“The most fearsome weapon in Mosul on that day was never used by the terrorists. Only now is it becoming clear what happened to it.”

“While the Defense Department now has authority to set troop numbers for Afghanistan, President Donald Trump is still setting the strategy that will drive those numbers.”

“The group has adapted to battlefield setbacks. But that doesn't mean it factored territorial losses into its master plan.”