"State Department specialists sent dissent cable urging more-intensive talks to end Afghanistan war."

Increasingly, the written word is being tossed aside in favor of film and the “documentary” – both allow for “artistic license” instead of facts.

"Espionage is sometimes called the cloak-and-dagger business. That term no longer applies to the Central Intelligence Agency."

In recent years there has been much discussion about the “weaponization” of social media.  My friend Dave Maxwell weighs in.

As international pressure is mounting on Islamabad to do more against militant groups operating from its soil, some militant groups are rebranding themselves as political parties.

DoD is accelerating relief operations and response capacity to Puerto Rico to meet the FEMA's need for a comprehensive commodities distribution network.

"And buying Facebook ads is much cheaper than an F-35 fighter jet, said Sen. Mark Warner."

As the Islamic State group faces military defeats in Syria and Iraq, the group has an eye on war-torn Libya, hoping to re-emerge there and organize in the country's desert.

Continue on for the video. Well said LtGen Silveria!

"The accuracy of sources is always incredibly difficult to determine in a conflict zone."

"Commanders warn that proliferation of the inexpensive technology may allow terrorist groups to launch other aerial attacks around the globe."

"China will inevitably be affected by the humanitarian costs of a collapsed DPRK, the security of DPRK’s nuclear material, and any large US-ROK force mobilization."

"Penetrating Latin America has been an Iranian and Hezbollah project for decades. They have been recruiting allies and agents."

"Kurdistan’s model should be Montenegro, which amicably separated from Serbia in 2006, rather than Kosovo."

The Taliban also are demanding better equipment and staff at existing clinics as well as the authority to vet surgeons and other medical staff who treat wounded Taliban fighters.

"We should be clear: Mindanao is not Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan.  We cannot approach a province of our longest standing treaty ally the same way we do in Syria."

The erosion of American military capabilities is real and must be halted, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee here yesterday.

"Insurgents infiltrated the city by pretending to be tribal fighters, security officials say."

Myanmar branded the group, known in shorthand as ARSA, a terrorist organization after it carried out deadly attacks on police and army posts on August 25.

Mattis said the U.S., with its new strategy for breaking the deadlock with Taliban insurgents, is not going to give up the fight in Afghanistan.

"The Kurds claimed victory for the 'yes' vote in an independence referendum rejected by Baghdad and Iraq’s neighbors."

"Thousands of Iranian Kurds, jubilant for their Iraqi kin, staged demonstrations in support of the vote - Iran is home to roughly 8 million Kurds."

Via a 'Foreign Affairs' press release - continue on for the details and links.

“Special operations should not be the panacea for every kind of difficulty that we find ourselves around the world facing, to include terrorism.”

The Center for a New American Security today released two essays as part of its Women in National Security Project.

“The United States military said on Sunday that it had conducted drone strikes on an Islamic State training camp in Libya, killing 17 militants.”

As the British military thinks about counterinsurgency in the post-Afghanistan era, there is surely an opportunity to embrace more enlightened ways of integrating gendered policies.

“Mutual US-Turkey prodding of each other has become more and more frequent, as Erdoğan dabbles with a strategic realignment away from the US and Europe.”

The study found that measures deployed by African governments to combat terrorism actually impel more people to join violent groups.

“U.S. soldiers concluded training Friday with Ukrainian forces on tactics that local troops will use in their long-running battle against Russian-backed separatists.”