Small Wars Journal

Blog Posts

SWJ Blog is a multi-author blog publishing news and commentary on the various goings on across the broad community of practice.  We gladly accept guest posts from serious voices in the community.

by The Washington Post | Fri, 03/16/2018 - 5:02am | 0 comments
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday that he doesn’t want the months-long investigation into how four U.S. soldiers were killed last year in Niger held up, and he expects to soon receive a memorandum about it from the Pentagon’s top general.
by The Washington Post | Thu, 03/15/2018 - 9:11pm | 0 comments
President Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, preparing to deliver yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration.
by The Wall Street Journal | Wed, 03/14/2018 - 11:03pm | 0 comments
“Army General John Nicholson strikes upbeat note on reconciliation even as some question whether U.S. is in a position to help negotiate a solution.”
by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | Wed, 03/14/2018 - 8:20pm | 0 comments
The Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria say they are not in the country for the money or to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
by DoD News | Wed, 03/14/2018 - 6:42pm | 0 comments
The United States already has the best infantry soldiers, Marines and special operators on the face of the Earth, but Defense Secretary James N. Mattis wants them to completely overmatch any potential foes.
by The Washington Post | Wed, 03/14/2018 - 5:43pm | 0 comments
"The United States is bolstering its efforts to help the Afghan government squash a rash of deadly high-profile attacks in its capital city through Special Operations raids, intelligence to map out residents and additional military advising."
by Voice of America | Wed, 03/14/2018 - 7:24am | 0 comments
The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State has been able to decimate the terror group's self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria but these gains could be easily undercut by continued instability, a U.S. intelligence official warned Tuesday.
by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | Tue, 03/13/2018 - 6:24pm | 0 comments
With the announcement of President Donald Trump's firing of the United States' top diplomat, Rex Tillerson's tenure as secretary of state now enters the history books as one of the shortest ever for a new administration.
by Stars & Stripes | Tue, 03/13/2018 - 1:56pm | 0 comments
The U.S. military is ratcheting up its attack on Taliban funding streams in Afghanistan, where troops are using a strategy that paid dividends in the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the general in charge of U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.
by Voice of America | Tue, 03/13/2018 - 1:23pm | 0 comments
President Donald Trump has fired his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and picked CIA director Mike Pompeo to replace him. Trump has also nominated Gina Haspel, the current deputy director at the Central Intelligence Agency, to replace Pompeo at the CIA.
by The Washington Post | Tue, 03/13/2018 - 5:32am | 0 comments
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Afghanistan on Tuesday to meet senior U.S. and Afghan officials and discuss both the military campaign and “peeling off” some members of the Taliban to pursue a peace deal with the Afghan government.
by The New York Times | Tue, 03/13/2018 - 12:59am | 0 comments
A report published in November by the Institute for the Study of War flatly stated that Afghanistan is “a safe haven for terrorist plots against the U.S. homeland.” Afghan officials believe there are now an estimated 3,000 Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan.
by Voice of America | Tue, 03/13/2018 - 12:15am | 0 comments
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is denouncing the Syrian government and Russia for the failure of a cease-fire in Syria that the U.N. Security Council demanded two weeks ago.
by Associated Press | Mon, 03/12/2018 - 12:42pm | 0 comments
"Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has put a peace offer on the table, and analysts say the ball is now in the Taliban's court."
| Mon, 03/12/2018 - 12:30pm | 0 comments
"Anger grows in majority community over poverty and official neglect; ‘No one has repaid us for our sacrifices.’"
by The National Interest | Mon, 03/12/2018 - 12:08am | 0 comments
"Expectations for an Afghan peace process grew last month with the Taliban’s release of a letter addressed to the American people offering to negotiate."
by Task & Purpose | Sun, 03/11/2018 - 3:25pm | 0 comments
Continue on for a link to a great list of books, papers and memoirs compiled by Dave Maxwell at Task & Purpose.
by Bloomberg News | Sun, 03/11/2018 - 4:19am | 0 comments
"U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that more than 40,000 foreigners from at least 120 countries flocked to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State."
by Associated Press | Sat, 03/10/2018 - 1:46pm | 0 comments
"The U.S. is adding military advisers and combat aircraft as part of President Donald Trump's new Afghanistan war strategy, but Congress appears to be paying little attention."
by The Strategy Bridge | Fri, 03/09/2018 - 6:28pm | 2 comments
"Whether trading speed for altitude or cost for capability, military aviation requires compromise."
by The Wall Street Journal | Fri, 03/09/2018 - 3:46pm | 0 comments
"Turkey is preparing an imminent attack on the Syrian city of Afrin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday."
by The Washington Times | Thu, 03/08/2018 - 9:26am | 1 comment

"We have watched carefully the evolution of Ukraine’s armed forces since the war began and it is impressive."

by The Wall Street Journal | Wed, 03/07/2018 - 11:20pm | 0 comments

"U.S. military officials offer no plan to finish the war without the hundreds of Kurdish fighters who fled, risking a resurgence of the jihadist group."

by Voice of America | Wed, 03/07/2018 - 12:51pm | 0 comments

The Taliban has not formally responded to Ghani’s proposal. His remarks suggest the group has not even indirectly communicated to Kabul whether it is willing to engage in a peace process.

by Stars & Stripes | Wed, 03/07/2018 - 10:34am | 0 comments

"Data the Pentagon issued last year to spotlight the success of operations against militant groups in Afghanistan were inaccurate, raising questions about real progress."