Blog Posts

"President Trump moved to clear out the senior ranks of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, a day after forcing the resignation of its secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, as he accelerated a purge of the nation’s immigration and security leadership."

"Three American service members and a contractor were killed in a car-bomb attack in Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said. The bomber struck as military personnel were conducting a security patrol near Bagram air base, a major air hub for foreign forces in Afghanistan."

"Forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar carried out an airstrike against the Libyan capital’s only functioning airport, as the rogue military commander defied U.S. calls to halt an assault on Tripoli."

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has established a new leadership council comprising government officials, opposition politicians and civil society representatives that will manage national peace efforts and put together an "effective" team of negotiators for possible talks with the Taliban insurgency.

"The U.S. military said it pulled a small contingent of American forces from Libya as the country teetered on the brink of full-scale civil war, with fighting continuing around the capital Tripoli."

"How to square this kind of deep loyalty to the armed forces and high public support with a long record of failures?"

"A renegade militia seeking to storm its way into Libya’s capital battled for control of the international airport Saturday in a showdown that threatened to spill into bloody urban combat in the streets of Tripoli."

"Mountain Home Air Force Base’s use of nine southern Idaho cities for urban close-air support training has run into a stumbling block. Seems some Idaho residents don’t like it at all."

"Mindfulness — the practice of using breathing techniques, similar to those in meditation, to gain focus and reduce distraction — is inching into the military in the United States and those of a handful of other nations."

"The United States is expected to designate Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps a foreign terrorist organization, three U.S. officials told Reuters, marking the first time Washington has labeled another country’s military a terrorist group."

"Fighter jets for Libya’s U.N.-backed government targeted forces of a renegade commander Saturday in attempts to stop his advance on the Libyan capital in a showdown that threatened to spill into bloody urban combat."

"World powers and the United Nations have condemned fresh fighting in Libya as rebel forces from the east of the country march on the capital."

"When is the United States on the sidelines, and when is it at war? That question is at the heart of the debate over an unprecedented congressional challenge to the Trump administration’s support of Persian Gulf nations mired in Yemen’s civil war."

From the staff at Geopolitical Futures - "The Syrian civil war brought tunnel technologies to Bashar Assad’s forces. It’s something Israel may want to keep in mind as it pushes a 'safe zone' farther into Syrian territory."

"Officials say it's time to shift diplomatic resources to countering China and Russia."

"Coalition airstrikes against the Islamic State dropped off considerably in February, as the campaign to oust the militant group from its last strongholds in Syria reached its final stages."

"Soldiers with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) will case their colors and deploy to Ukraine within days."

Via 'Americas Quarterly' - "Traditional mafia-busting tactics could help solve the crisis in Venezuela ." H/T Andrew Gibbons

"The U.N. Human Rights Office says more than 20,000 civilians in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State have been forced to flee their homes in recent weeks in the face of escalating fighting between the Myanmar military and the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army."

"In a statement Thursday, the Pentagon said the investigating officer will do a 'new, narrowly-scoped review' and give Shanahan recommendations on whether the reprimands already made were appropriate. The officer’s name was not released."

"FARC dissident commander Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte,” is leading a movement to unite Colombia’s former FARC fighters into a single fighting force — and he may well succeed."

"The Pentagon is upping the official estimate on the number of U.S. troops in Iraq who were killed by Iranian-backed militias, now putting that number at at least 603. Officials previously said that Iran was linked to the deaths of roughly 500 troops. That means roughly one in every six American combat fatalities in Iraq were attributable to Iran."

"The House voted Thursday to end U.S. participation in Yemen’s civil war, denouncing the Saudi-led bombing campaign there as worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis and sending the measure to President Trump for his expected veto."

"The Air Force awarded the Gallant Unit Citation to the 74th Fighter Squadron out of Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, March 14 for its combined actions during close-air support missions against the Islamic State group in Syria."

"In Washington and other Western capitals, the territorial defeat of ISIS, which for years was considered the greatest threat to global security, will almost certainly be studied as a model for future counterterrorism operations."