Blog Posts

"In Islamic State’s former eastern Syrian stronghold, the Islamic Republic of Iran is parlaying its military and economic might into a lasting foothold."

"Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan told House lawmakers Tuesday that a new review into the deadly October 2017 ambush in Niger that left four American soldiers dead is underway."

"Many of the extremist group's fighters will now become insurgents but that is not something America can solve."

"Focus will change from years of armed conflict to confrontation with dispersed, furtive insurgency."

"New actors are contesting the basic norms of statehood, borders, and non-intervention at the local, state, regional, and global levels. But is Europe prepared?"

"The Donald Trump administration’s top envoy for Syria confirmed today that the United States would continue to keep a residual troop presence in the war-torn country for the foreseeable future to ensure the lasting defeat of the Islamic State even as the Pentagon begins to draw down troops."

"Israel Katz's statement comes hours after Hamas announced Egypt had brokered a ceasefire with Israel, Al Jazeera reported."

"This type of shift could have serious policy implications."

"Israel and Hamas exchanged blows on Monday after a rocket launched from Gaza struck a house in central Israel, wounding seven people."

"Syrians who remained loyal to President Bashar al-Assad throughout the past eight years of war are increasingly expressing discontent with his government as living standards in the country continue to deteriorate even as the conflict winds down."

"The strength of the United States is reflected by its values, diversity and what we can offer the world as a collective whole."

"The reported cease-fire between Israel and Hamas did not go into effect Monday night as a new barrage of rockets hit the south."

"Israeli military jets began striking targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting at the White House with President Trump."

"A long-range rocket fired from the Gaza Strip slammed into a house in central Israel and wounded seven people early Monday, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a high-profile visit to Washington and prompting the military to deploy troops along Israel's southern border."

"It was the third long-range rocket fired towards central Israel from the Gaza Strip in two weeks, catching Israel by total surprise and this time striking its target – a civilian home."

"The United States and its allies are nowhere close to bringing down the terrorist organization’s economic empire."

"On Saturday, after five years of fighting, the militants lost their last sliver of land, a bombed out camp in Syria. What was once a self-proclaimed 'Caliphate,' occupying vast territories in Iraq and Syria and bent on the destruction, is now once again an elusive insurgency."

Via Kurdistan 24 - "The US-led coalition on Saturday congratulated the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on eliminating the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate and stated that it would continue to work with the SDF to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group that terrorized large portions of Syria and Iraq for years."

"U.S.-backed Syrian fighters cleared explosives in the last area retaken from the Islamic State group on Sunday and arrested a number of militants hiding in tunnels, a day after declaring military victory and the end of the extremists’ self-styled caliphate."

"The Islamic State seeks to project an image of strength, and that image has attracted many followers. In the past few years, the above-ground caliphate has collapsed and infighting is growing, but the group still stresses its prowess and leadership in its propaganda."

"America's top brass can no longer operate under the assumption that every problem is the responsibility of the U.S. military."

"The collapse of Islamic State’s caliphate has delivered a crushing blow to the extremist group, but the conditions that nourished that insurgency and others in war-shattered Syria and Iraq remain perilously in place."

"Five years after the Islamic State group swept across Iraq, Baghdad is bidding to reclaim its role as a regional player while walking a tightrope between rival backers the US and Iran.'

"Four years after Saudi Arabia led a military intervention in Yemen to back the government against rebels, the only hope for peace in a country threatened by famine hangs on a fragile truce."

"Hundreds of thousands of Indian troops and armed police are stationed in this lush region at the foot of the Himalayas. India and rival Pakistan have always disputed the area and in the past three decades, an uprising against New Delhi's rule has killed nearly 50,000 civilians, militants and soldiers, by official count."